Stay at Home Moms: Need a "Real Job"

According to the woman who just might be our first lady for the next 4 years, stay at home moms don't have real jobs. This was revealed in a recent interview in which Teresa Heinz Kerry stated about Laura Bush: "I don't know that she's ever had a real job - I mean, since she's been grown up. So her experience and her validation comes from important things, but different things".



On the one had, Heinz Kerry nominally acknowledged the importance of being a stay at home. But on the other, she has the nerve to 1) state that stay at home motherhood isn't a real job, and 2) assert that somehow Laura Bush's "validation" is different from other women.

So USANow asks: What is it about a housewife's work that isn't "real"? Are maintaining a home and doing charity work not "real" accomplishments. Is cooking dinner not "real" work. Is volunteering as a room mother at your child's school not a "real" contribution? Is having the flexibility to stay at home to care for your sick children not a "real" benefit to your family? Is being home all summer for your children so they're not in day care not of "real" value to children? This is not to say that working outside the home is a bad thing, but rather attempts to minimize the contributions of stay at home mothers compared to working mothers are misguided at best.

We can conclude either 1) Heinz Kerry judges our contributions to society based purely on the monetary implications, or 2) Caring for our families is an insignificant contribution to society when compared to "real" professions.

Today we learn that Heinz Kerry has since apologized, stating "I had forgotten that Mrs. Bush had worked as a school teacher and librarian". Apparently Laura Bush had a couple of "real" jobs, before she became a stay at home mom. This apology tells us all we need to know about Heinz Kerry's view of stay at home motherhood.