News Flash: Response to Interview with Santorum

New York Times article: Santorum Faces Questions on Women in the Work Force

Right now, the United States is in a campaign year. For the past few months, citizens have been bombarded with candidates. This will only continue until the November election. Candidates are leaving messages in a wide variety of mediums, everything from radio ads to communication posted on Facebook. A direct method of learning about candidates is by watching or reading interviews with journalists. In comparison to speeches, interviews give a more personal view on the candidate’s beliefs. Rick Santorum is a candidate trying to get the Republican nomination for president. He recently had an interview with George Stephanopoulos in which he clarified some statements he had previously made. Santorum is not a stranger to controversy; his opponents and the general public have scrutinized some of these statements.

Brian Knowlton wrote an article for The New York Times in which he discusses the recent interview between Rick Santorum and George Stephanopoulos^1­_­­. He starts by giving some context to the interview. Just days prior, Santorum had answered questions about his comments about women serving in the military and whether they should be serving in the front lines. This leads to the interview in which he discusses part of his book “that accuses “radical feminists” of undermining families and trying to convince women that they could find fulfillment only in the workplace.” ^1­ To answer Stephanopoulos’ questions, Santorum explained that he didn’t write this part of his book and it was actually written by his wife, Karen, and that it was her opinion. Knowlton includes a direct quote from Santorum’s book to highlight these beliefs: “Sadly the propaganda campaign launched in the 1960s has taken root,” Mr. Santorum, or his wife, wrote in the book. “The radical feminists succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.”^1­ Santorum claimed to be unfamiliar with the quote. This debate mirrors some of the discussions about his book that surrounded his campaign for re-election in 2006. During the Stephanopoulos interview, Santorum stated that women should be supported with whatever decision they make [in regards to working or being a stay at home mother]. Knowlton jumps back to the earlier discussion of Santorum’s comments regarding women in the military. He had made comments regarding soldiers and emotions. After his original comments, he clarified that he was saying that men would have emotions about seeing women in combat rather than commenting on the emotions of female soldiers. To press Santorum on his comments on feminists, Stephanopoulos asked him where the feminists are. His response was, “It comes from an elite culture, dictated, again, from academia, dictated, again, from the Hollywood culture and the news media, that says, ‘The only thing that’s affirming, the only thing that really counts is what you do at work.’ ”^1­ He also furthered that by saying that it was “wrong” to make these comments and that society should value time spent with children. In this article, Brian Knowlton gave readers the responses of presidential candidate Rick Santorum to some of  questions that stemmed from some of his comments regarding women.

Looking at this article about the Santorum interview, three things stand out: the debate between stay at home mothers versus the working mom, the idea of “radical feminists”, and the issue of women in the military. As far as women’s issues are concerned, these three have been discussed frequently and maintained their presence for some time. By looking closely at how these three things are portrayed, we can gauge the public perception of women and the feminist movement.

First, the first issue that was raised in the interview with Santorum was the debate over working mothers. His book claims that there is a group of people who are trying to tell women that they should be working mothers. It is likely that there is a group of people that are trying to convince women that they should be working outside of the home. However, an actual widespread campaign that advocates women in the workforce instead of at home does not exist today. Up until the mid 20^th century, there were certain jobs designated for men and women, for the women that worked outside of the home. The second wave of the feminist movement targeted getting women the opportunity to obtain occupations that were other than teacher, nurse, or secretary. The feminists at this time wanted women to be able to get out of the kitchen and into an office. As Ariel Levy writes, “The feminists’ conception of the liberated woman shared a common attribute. She no longer had to toil in the kitchen, benevolent for her brood; she was reconceived as her own, independent person. She was freed from domesticity.” ² Admittedly, it appears that these two things are in opposition to one another. However, the feminist movement was about giving the option of careers and not telling women that they should abandon the home. These two standpoints are now seen in opposition to one another, but in reality, they both are from a similar background. Both want women to make the best choice for themselves and their families. The issue of Karen Santorum feeling that women were looking down on her decision is a hard one to know the full situation. In the current economy, many women who would prefer to stay at home simply cannot due to the lack of financial support. The disapproval she felt may have stemmed from jealousy that she was able to have that option. The stay at home mothers and the working moms should not be in opposition to each other but should instead be happy with that they are doing what they can for their families.

Next issue that arises from Rick Santorum’s comments is the idea of “radical feminists.” For this case, Santorum does not give a personal definition to what he believes radical feminism is exactly who radical feminists are. As quoted earlier, Santorum does give his belief on where the message is coming from: “elite culture”, “academia” “Hollywood culture,” and “the news media.” ^1­ Again, elite culture is a vague idea without a concrete example to go by. The other three places are common sources to which many attribute our current societal views stem from. In recent years, feminism has gotten a bad reputation. Women who consider themselves feminist are often deemed radical, man hating, or lesbian. There are feminists who are those things. However, the vast majority of feminists would fall into a different category that is much more moderate. Radical feminism should be looked at through semantics. Radicals are commonly associated to be something negative: out of the mainstream and just out to cause trouble. They are ruffling feathers for the sake of making noise. Associating the word radical with the word feminist gives the impression that they are one in the same. The feminists are all radicals. They are out of the mainstream and they are trying to disrupt the system. Well, this is partially true. If the system consistently is oppressing women, then the feminist movement, by in large, is against it. Feminists are not aiming to destroy the family as some like to believe. The movement is about equality and how that equality can create a stronger society. Santorum’s statements about radical feminists are simply a tactic to make them appear as something different from him. They become people who are in conflict with him rather than people who he can work with in his hopes for presidency.

The last section in Santorum’s interview was about women in the military. He was resistant to the idea of increasing the number of women in combat roles. Previously, he said that it “could be a very compromising situation, where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved.” ^1­_­­ At first, it seems as though Santorum is playing off the old stereotype that women are emotional. However, after that first response, he clarified and said that he was referring to the emotions of men. He believed that they would become emotional if they were to see a woman get in danger. ^1­_­­ This may be true. Men might become upset at the idea of seeing a woman becoming injured. The only problem with this argument is that women are also upset at the idea of men being injured. Also, soldiers regularly form bonds when they are serving and become an extended family. They certainly are upset when one of them becomes injured. To say that men would be the emotional ones if a woman is injured is ridiculous. There is just as likely of a chance that all members of a troop, male or female, would be upset if one of their members gets hurt. In the recent months, there have been new developments for female soldiers, including new opportunities to serve on submarines. This expansion of military roles for women could become a much wider discussion on the treatment of women. For example, it could reinvigorate the draft discussion: should women be drafted as well as men? Santorum’s opinion on women in the military will become very important if he becomes Commander in Chief.

These three issues may not appear to be as important in a campaign as national security or economic policy. They are important because the opinion of the President of the United States helps to gauge the viewpoint of the country. How the country views feminism and topics involving women help dictate how women are treated and how much work needs to be done in order for men and women to be treated as equals. 

1. Knowlton, B. "Santorum Faces Questions on Women in the Work Force." The New York Times, February 12, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/us/politics/santorum-faces-questions-on-women-in-work-force.html?_r=2&ref=politics 

2. Levy, A. Female Chauvinist Pigs. N.p.: Free Press, 2005.