In his 2005 book “It Takes a Family,” Senator Rick Santorum wrote about the negative impact the radical feminist agenda has had on women and families. In particular, he criticized feminism for “convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.”
The media is acting as if Santorum’s views on feminism fall well outside the mainstream. For instance, over the weekend David Gregory absurdly asked Santorum whether he’d hire women to work in his administration. While I will not be voting for Santorum in the primary because of concerns I have with his economic views, I will defend the underlying point he made in his book. In fact, he’s saying the same things about feminism that conservatives have been saying for years.
In his book, Santorum argues that feminism has created an environment that is hostile to stay-at-home mothers. I first began to notice this hostility in 2003 while researching the Ms. Foundation’s “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.” At the time, I wrote:
Take Our Daughters to Work Day materials explain that they are “designed to challenge limited-and limiting-views of gender roles.” Suggested classroom activities to prepare for Take Our Daughters to Work Day asks students to imagine that they are living in a box. Questions that teachers should ask include “What do people say to girls to keep them in ‘boxes’?”
[…]
Continuing with the box metaphor, the teacher is to instruct students to cut out pictures of “extreme stereotypes of women and men” and those “reinforcing traditional stereotypes.” The students should then paste the pictures on the inside of a cardboard box. Finally, students should cut out pictures of women and men who are challenging stereotypes and paste them on the outside of the box.
This activity is supposed to make children feel that they should be ashamed if they choose to pursue a traditionally male or female career, such as a firefighter or homemaker. It also demonizes those with parents who have chosen traditionally male or female careers. A child is led to think that if his mother chooses not to work outside the home she is “living in a box” and trapped in a stereotype.
Despite feminists’ posturing about women having more choices today than ever before, the only choices that matter to them are the ones that reaffirm their agenda. In that respect, Santorum is right. Women of my generation have been told that we’re somehow selling out the sisterhood if we choose to be stay-at-home mothers instead of working outside the home. We’re routinely lectured about what we’re giving up — money, career opportunities, “me” time — if we don’t work after having children. However, there’s very little discussion about what children and parents in two-income families are missing out on.
According to a London School of Economics study released last year, 59 percent of women feel pressure from society to work outside the home. The study also found that 69 percent of women would stay home to raise their children if money were not an issue. A similar study done by SurveyUSA found that 87 percent of women would stay home with their children if money were not an issue. Additionally, 73 percent of working moms said that their jobs prevented them from spending an adequate amount of time with their children.
I was a latch-key kid throughout grade school and middle school. In my case, it was because my parents were divorced. It made me realize that when it came time for me to start a family, I wanted to be in a financial position to be a stay-at-home mother. While that may still be a few years off (after all, I am writing this column on Valentine’s Day evening), it’s a goal that I hope to fulfill.
Those with younger children who choose to work outside the home shouldn’t be criticized for the choices they make for their families. Likewise, those who choose to stay home shouldn’t be belittled. Instead, our leaders should provide an economic climate that makes both choices equally desirable.
This is what Santorum believes, too. In May of last year, he told Fox News’s Bret Baier, “All I’m saying is both decisions should be applauded and affirmed, based on the choice the woman wants to make. That’s the point I made in [“It Takes a Family”], and I — and I stand by that choice.”
Unfortunately, in a recent interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Santorum seemed to distance himself from that passage of his book: “That section of the book was co-written, if you want to be honest about it, by my wife.”
The stronger the economy is, the more women will have the option of staying home with their children. That’s one of the reasons Republican voters need to choose the presidential candidate who is most likely to implement policies that will grow the economy. Given Santorum’s big-government track record, I don’t think he’s that candidate.
Lisa De Pasquale is a writer based in Alexandria, Virginia. She is the former director of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Follow her on Twitter at @LisaDeP.