Santorum and the quote on women
The dust up over the quote about women in Santorum’s book is an excellent example of why Santorum makes me nervous. The passage from Santorum’s book says, “Sadly, the propaganda campaign launched in the 1960s has taken root. The radical feminists succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.”
Frankly I agree with the remark as I think would most conservatives and independents, along with a vast majority of women and scientific studies. But rather than defend it, Santorum pleaded ignorance, claiming his wife wrote that part of the book. This is the man that wants to carry the conservative banner? Blaming his wife for a quote that appears in a book he is supposed to have written?
Also troubling is his claimed ignorance. Even if he did not remember the quote, the view it expresses is pretty common and by no means limited to conservatives. If he is the champion of the family that he claims, he must have encountered this view many times and should have been ready to defend it. Instead he retreated to liberal platitudes. A classic case of a conservative wimping out, resulting not only in a loss for the candidate, but a win for the liberal viewpoint.
As a contrast, just imagine (or just remember) Newt being challenged by a reporter about something he wrote. What should Santorum have said? How about something like this:
Well, I do not remember the complete context of every word I have written, but as for the general statement itself, I think it is completely true. I do think women were sold a bill of goods. The traditional roles of wife and mother were denigrated and women were told that they would only find happiness by having a career. Now here we are many decades later and many women feel trapped in the work force when they really want to be at home with their children.
The bottom line is that feminists did not seek equality for women; they called for women to be like men. Women who wanted a more traditional life were not praised for their choice; they were often shunned as traitors to the cause. While the notion was attacked and ridiculed from the late sixties till the early nineties, and in some places even till today, the fact is that men and women are different. They think differently and react differently. As a general rule, and it is only a general rule, men find satisfaction in their jobs, women in their relationships. This is why feminism and its stress on women being more like men, while it has been adopted by society, has left so many women profoundly unhappy.
I believe that both men and women should have the choice to pursue the career they want, even if it is a traditional one. Women breaking down the barriers and entering the work force has brought about a lot of changes and much of it has been good, but some of it has been bad. We as a society have to be honest about that instead of simply clinging dogmatically to outdated and incorrect feminist dogma. Men and women are different. They both have strengths and weaknesses. True happiness will not be found by forcing people to pretend that those differences don’t exist, which is what we have been doing for quite some time.
But instead of this or a similar response, Santorum blamed his wife. Maybe his wife should be the candidate.
