Michelle Obama's Front Page Move
On Thursday, well timed for Mother's Day, 43-year-old Michelle Obama announced her decision to leave her job as vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals. The Washington Post ran the news as a front page article, Michelle Obama's Career Timeout; many other news organizations gave the story similar prominence.
Michelle Obama went to Princeton and Harvard Law School, and devoted decades of hard work to building a successful, lucrative career. She has two daughters, now 8 and 5, and has shown she has the drive and temerity to juggle motherhood and demanding full-time executive responsibilities along with supporting her spouse's political career. I'm sure it's big news to her that she's leaving the "high paying position in a successful corporation" (her words, according to The Post) she worked her life to achieve. Her next job may be First Lady if her husband, Democratic hopeful Barack Obama, wins the 2008 presidential election.
But it stuns me that Ms. Obama's decision to quit her job is front page, national news. The spotlight shined on the work status of first ladies -- actual and potential -- seems to mirror Americans' obsession with working and stay-at-home motherhood. Hillary Clinton was criticized for being a spouse who was independent -- economically and intellectually. Laura Bush is praised for being a dependent, always-smiling wife and mother despite the troubles her daughters and husband get into. Is Laura Bush criticized less frequently because she's a non-working mom? Did HIllary get attacked because she made no attempt to hide that she was as smart, successful and ambitious as her husband?
Was Michelle Obama's decision to leave her job timed to boost public relations for her husband's campaign? It's a logical move, since she can play a valuable, visable role in her husband's presidential campaign. But why -- in a time when the "corporate wife" role seems obsolete -- is front-page attention paid to the employment status of candidates' wives?
Are Americans threatened by working wives? Reassured by traditional ones? What is your vote here?
By Leslie Morgan Steiner |
May 14, 2007; 7:10 AM ET
| Category:
Moms in the News
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