“ ‘The 19th Amendment is around because men weren't doing their jobs, and I think that's sad,’ she said. O'Connor...was forced into the workplace because of her ailing daughter's medical bills.”

Sounds to me it's a subtle hint to her hubby that he's not doing his job.
kd :: 30 September, 2001 12:37 PM

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Is there an "Uncle Tom" equivalent insult for a white woman?
Hilary :: 30 September, 2001 01:34 PM

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I think she simply made a statement as to how she feels, and thus since it was un-PC, she is being railroaded, as usual.

She is simply trying to express that men should undertake more responsibility in the home. I just read that article, and to me it didn't sound a thing like she was saying "woman ought to stay home barefoot and pregnant while their man runs off and does anything he wants."

She feels men should be the head of the home, and wow does that fire up tempers in this country! It's funny really, that if that same article were to be flipped, and she were to say "Women should be taking more responsibility, so that men shouldn't have to vote, this lady would be heralded as a visionary leader in her community.

As it is now, she is - by simple means of expressing herself - eradicated from the PC community into a hailstorm of being against ALL woman's rights and waking people up in "1917".
Carey :: 30 September, 2001 02:23 PM

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"But, she adds, if men were doing their job of taking care of women and children, women wouldn't be required to vote."

My translation is: Women only need to have their voices heard when it pertains to issues concerning family. As in, if my man was at home taking care of me and my kiddies, I wouldn't have to care about world politics, the environment, etc?

"she views women's suffrage as a sign that American society doesn't value the family enough " Value the family in what way? If women stayed home and took care of the family and didn't bother with trivial things like voting and issues, America would be better off?

Carey, any woman who stated that women should take more responsibility so men don't have to vote would be laughed at, not hailed.

Maybe if she get her job because women went out and voted for her we would be more empathatic towards her. Guess the women's vote was good enough for when she needed it.
michele :: 30 September, 2001 03:37 PM

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Bad editing alert: That last line she start : Maybe if she didn't get her job....
michele :: 30 September, 2001 03:38 PM

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Oh the hell with it. Should start. Not she. Maybe if I was home taking care of my family instead of out drinking margaritas the post would have read right the first time.
michele :: 30 September, 2001 03:39 PM

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i disagree with this: "I believe the man should be the head of the family. The woman should be the heart of the family." and this: "But, she adds, if men were doing their job of taking care of women and children, women wouldn't be required to vote."

that's all, no reasons given, just wanted to get that out there. :)
bakiwop :: 30 September, 2001 04:40 PM

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I do agree that SOME men should be taking more responsibility and participating more in their families' lives....BUT I don't think letting women have the vote is the reason for anybody's irresponsibility toward their family or the dissolution of family values.

Furthermore, this is the sort of thinking perpetuates the idea that a woman isn't worth anything unless she is married and producing a family. (The Senator's logic completely bypasses the single, widowed, divorced, etc)

Blech. I would not stand in her way to state how she feels, but I definitely reserve the right to disagree with it.
PixelFish :: 30 September, 2001 05:30 PM

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Carey, do me a favor, next time you decide to quote me, quote what I actually wrote, OK? Nowhere did I write anything remotely like, “woman ought to stay home barefoot and pregnant while their man runs off and does anything he wants.” You of all people should that I am as un-PC as they come.

That said, yes, I am pro-women’s rights. Especially voting. Everyone should want to vote. If this last 51/49 election taught us anything, it’s that one vote does make a difference.

Do I think women should stay home? If they want to. Should men stay home? If they want to. That’s what I love about the United States; you can live how you choose to. What I disagree with in Mrs. O’Connor’s statement is the “my ultra-right wing religious beliefs should naturally be taken as fact for all,” attitude she has. Apparently she has forgotten that not everyone in the US is a WASP.
Davezilla :: 30 September, 2001 05:34 PM

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Well Dave, it wasn't my intention for that to be a quote from you, just for the record. Not in the least was this an attack on you, though I see how it could be perceived as such now that I've reread it. Sorry if that was how it came across.

My comments, as is, stand - with the addendum that they do NOT attack Dave, as I came across before.
Carey :: 30 September, 2001 06:58 PM

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Oh, and another for the record, I am extremely PRO WOMEN, including women like this who make statements that others don't like. The damage is probably already done, and I can't undo it, but I want to state for my own sanity that I feel women should be allowed to do whatever they deem fit for themselves - including being the heart of the family - again, if they choose to be this.
Carey :: 30 September, 2001 07:02 PM

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OMIGOD!!! It's so obvious... she's a "sleeper agent" for the Taliban!!!! Detain her ASAP!!!!
gOdOfMiScHiEf :: 30 September, 2001 10:08 PM

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You forget, this is the state that wanted to teach creationism instead of evolution...
Jen :: 01 October, 2001 10:11 AM

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Good point Jen. I guess I woke up in Kansas.
Davezilla :: 01 October, 2001 10:14 AM

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wow. this is so wrong in so many ways. for one she did not make this as a personal choice statement; she made it as a statement of how she feels all women should be. She is against women having a say in the political system she is taking part in. The "go home to my roses" concept obviously shows she does not think outside the socio-economic circle she is part of. no matter how well the man does, in this age, sometimes the women is required to work. alot of the time it is by choice! Railroaded?!? Huh? Nothing in what Dave said or the article showed how she was suffering from her statement. Its un-PC to state, "I think my husband should take care of me while i stay home and take care of the roses and kids." Its assine to make her statement from a place of political standing, claiming that this is the way it should be for ALL women.

By the way, I would like to stay home and take care of the roses and the kids. Unfortunately we live in an apartment and the cats hate me.
tbit :: 01 October, 2001 10:42 AM

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"Today's phrase, boys and girls, is 'knee-jerk reaction.' Can you say it with me? I knew you could. It means responding to an idea without knowing the context or even the full argument."

She has a legitimate point, but it's part of a /much/ larger disucussion. But, then, I guess that trying to fit the square peg that is a complex topic into the round hole that is the attention span of the average web surfer makes the whole business of even bringing it up - let alone trying to explain it - a moot point.
David :: 01 October, 2001 10:56 AM

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oh stupid, anyway. as a single mother, i would certainly appreciate not being able to vote... wait kay! i know! all women in violent relationships should just stay in them! oh and women who are abandoned by their spouses? clearly they weren't doing well enough as "the heart of the family", so they don't deserve a vote either. anyone who knows me at all knows i am not a manhater, although i have every reason to be. her comments about women being the heart of a family are not wrong in principal, but to connect it in anyway with voting is not just un-PC, but absurd and deeply offensive.
jocelyn :: 01 October, 2001 12:42 PM

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Fer gawd's sake, did I wake up in Afhanistan? (rushes to window)Thank God, it was only a nightmare.
othercheek :: 01 October, 2001 07:57 PM

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blah-dee-fucking-blah. o'connor is an idiot. in or out of context.
michaelbrown :: 01 October, 2001 10:42 PM

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I don't think there was much to be taken out of context there. Her quotes *were* the context. It's not like she was talking about another country or time and we misconstrued it. She pretty much laid it on the line, and even said that she knew her opinion would be unpopular. Above negative reactions were hardly knee-jerk.
michele :: 02 October, 2001 05:26 AM

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