Hilary Rosen Is Right: Ann Romney Does Not Understand the Economic Realities Facing Women

Ann Romney has been a stay-at-home mom her entire career. Being a stay-at-home mom is work. I would go so far as to say that it is at least as difficult and important as a paying job. But it's not the same as working in the economic job market. Motherhood is a job from which you cannot be fired. Incompetence in this job won't get your children, or your livelihood, taken away. The major repercussion instead is lack of fulfillment and anger through your life.

For purposes of this article, I will differentiate between the work of raising children and a workplace job by calling the former work and the latter a job.

In Mrs. Romney's work, she sets her own schedule. There are few if any deadlines, and failure to complete a task carries no repercussions. In a job your schedule is set by your superiors. Deadlines must be met every day and failure to complete a task is grounds for termination. Being terminated from a job carries repercussions far beyond mere lack of self fulfillment. Mrs. Romney has never had to face the prospect of not being able to feed or house her five sons. That lack in and of itself, disqualifies her from completely understanding the economic world, and yet Mitt Romney claims to go to Mrs. Romnney for feedback on how women care more about economics than personal rights.

Hilary Rosen was right. Ann Romney, while performing in the perfectly honorable profession of motherhood, has never worked a job a day in her life. In no way do I decry the profession of a stay-at-home mom. There was a time in the not so distant past when the vast majority of women practiced that profession. 

Properly raising children is as important as any other job in the world. Our children are our future. This does not mean that Ann Romney is in any way qualified to speak about the opinions of the women of our country. Her position in the 1% has put her vastly out of touch with the majority of women in America. Most women in America have to work in order to make ends meet, whether they are single moms or happily married with the father gainfully employed. These women do care about economics, but these are the women that the Republicans have chosen to take aim at in an attempt to eliminate their right of self-determination. 

If the GOP really wants to win back the votes of women, all they need do is stop passing bills in state legislatures that attack those women's rights. Ann Romney and her husband Mitt are both far removed from the day-to-day troubles the face American families. All of their attempts to prove otherwise widen that divide.