Incredibly, babies have become trophies in the increasingly bitter battle to become the next president of the United States. Not having children, for whatever reason, is not seen as patriotic by some Republicans.
Trump and Vance say they view women as equals. The truth is they only value certain types of women: the nurturing, stay-at-home mothers, the ones who walk one step behind their man.
JD is a “traditional” guy (married, with kids) who criticized presidential candidate Kamala Harris as one of those “childless cat ladies”; one of a group of Democrats who (according to him) “make life miserable” for everyone else because they haven’t fathered the next generation.
Vance asks: “What’s the point of us handing our country over to people who don’t really have a vested interest in it?”
A low blow, calling those without children unfit, somehow imperfect.
Kamala Harris is the proud stepmother of Ella and Cole, children from her husband Doug Emhoff’s first marriage. Vance’s remarks (made in 2021) have caused outrage: Emhoff’s ex-wife and daughter Ella have denounced the “baseless attacks” and have strongly defended Harris.
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance previously criticized Kamala Harris for not having children.
Hannah Neeleman, who headed to Las Vegas to compete in Mrs World two weeks after giving birth, has become associated with the “traditional wife” or “tradwife” movement.
Kamala Harris was described as a “childless cat lady” by JD Vance in 2021. She is a stepmother to two
Kamala Harris with her husband Doug Emhoff and their two stepchildren Cole and Ella. Harris married her father in 2014
Millions of women who would love to have children but cannot conceive must feel hurt by Vance’s stupid comments.
Jennifer Aniston tried to have a child via IVF when she was in her 30s and 40s and has spoken of her struggles to conceive. She “can’t believe” a potential US vice president would hold such views.
It’s not unexpected: JD voted against the IVF Rights Act in June of this year, which would have given American women the right to access IVF treatment.
Aniston was rightly horrified that Vance would deny his own daughter treatment if she couldn’t conceive naturally.
Bullying people who have not had children is a new form of abuse. And relating cats as if they were a sad substitute for a child is, to say the least, strange. This represents a new low in political debate, even by Trump’s standards.
Not all women want children, but the ability to give birth is seen by some Republicans as a badge of merit, a sign that you are normal, that you are in touch with the real world. Anyone who hasn’t had a child and owns a cat must be—by JD’s definition—a miserable spinster who has no contact with the rest of the population.
This is another manifestation of the “traditional” wives movement that has been gaining ground in the US and, to a lesser extent, the UK.
Followers post photos of their preparations, their (usually large) tribe of children, and their impeccably washed clothes. These models of femininity are women who wear dresses, iron their aprons, get excited about ironing, and have orgasms over a clean toilet.
Being a “traditional” mother, like poster girl Hannah Neeleman (7.5 million followers on TikTok), means devoting yourself to supporting your man and revering your home, seen by Republicans as the new marker of patriotism.
Pass me the airsickness bag. Any single, childless woman wearing a pantsuit is a messenger of the devil to these morons.
What JD really hates are professional women. In his opinion, if you choose not to have children because it takes all your energy to climb the slippery pyramid of power, you must be crazy.
He’s married to the old idea of the superwoman, the person who not only manages to have at least two perfectly formed, obedient, well-behaved children through natural births, but runs a household, manages a job, and puts freshly cooked dinner on the table every night at 6 p.m.
It is the rise of the new Superwomen.
Jennifer Aniston, 55, slammed comments made by Sen. JD Vance, 39, about “childless cat ladies who are miserable with their own lives” while speaking about Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021. Pictured last month in Los Angeles
Aniston, 55, took to Instagram Stories with harsh words for Vance, who is running as Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate.
The term “superwomen”, referring to mothers who juggle careers, child-rearing, housework and cooking, was coined by journalist Shirley Conran (pictured).
The term was coined by pioneering journalist Shirley Conran in 1975, when she wrote a guide explaining how to juggle the impossible demands of work and home with plenty of tips and tactics.
It was a huge success, although years later Shirley admitted that it was a ridiculous concept for most working women, saying that “life is too short to eat a mushroom.”
Women have always had to meet ridiculous standards to advance in their careers. Many of us have had to work twice as hard as men to get ahead, ignoring sexism, harassment and belittling. In politics, women have had to be brave, toughen up and take insults with a smile.
Whatever one thinks of her politics, Kamala Harris is a hard worker, a tireless worker, and a worthy candidate for the presidency of the United States. Can she really be considered a second-class woman, unelectable, simply because she is a stepmother and not a “real” mother?
Vance is skillfully pitting women against women – the fertile against the infertile – using disgusting tactics to try to score points in a desperate attempt to prevent any woman from entering the White House. They have destroyed Hillary Clinton and now they are back to square one.
And what about cats as substitutes for children? Surely, anyone who has a pet knows that they are temperamental, time-consuming and affectionate, just like children.
For some people, having a cat can be a substitute for a child, but what’s wrong with that? A cat or dog can teach you a lot.
To win the presidency, Kamala Harris cannot simply capitalize on her status as a stepmother, the daughter of immigrants, and boast about her long and distinguished career. She cannot capitalize on the color of her skin.
She needs to go further: talk about inclusive, not divisive, politics to unite people from different backgrounds and communities. Her opponents have made it harder for women to have abortions, access IVF treatments and receive the specialist healthcare they need. Can her shortcomings be attributed solely to her uterus?
Whatever the Republicans say, Donald Trump and JD Vance have no interest in real equality for women, that is, the right not to have children, the right to decide what is best for their body and their mental health.
In Vance’s eyes, Kamala Harris is not his equal, not because of her intellect or her policies, but because of her biology.
We are really back in the stone age.
