In the blog commentary titled “Presidential Debate II: WhatMitt Romney Really Said About Women” (posted October 17, 2012 on
huffingtonpost.com), blogger Kathleen Reardon discusses comments made by Mitt
Romney during the 2nd presidential debate regarding his “binders” of
women that were provided to him after he was elected as Governor of
Massachusetts, in an attempt to increase the number of female staff members on
his cabinet. Ms. Reardon points out how Mr. Romney’s comment was not only
patronizing to women (whether intentional or not) but that it was insulting and
she discusses the fact that Romney skirted the issue of equal pay for women, an
issue that has been addressed by President Obama in his signing of the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She also mentions Romney’s story about a female member
of his staff that needed flexibility in her schedule due to the demands of her
family, and how he provided that for her.
Ms. Reardon takes a left-leaning side in the blog, pointing
out some of Romney’s major missteps regarding women’s issues within the
economy, specifically those regarding employment. She appears to aim her
commentary at anyone in support of women’s issues. Ms. Reardon definitely shows
a passion for this topic in her writing, which makes sense considering she is a
professor of management at USC and has written books and articles regarding
various issues in the workplace. I’m betting she knows a lot about women’s issues
in the workplace and the inequalities that still exist.
I agree with the criticisms that she makes, however, I also
think that emotions are dictating how people may be reading into his comments,
including myself, at the time they were made. Romney has not proven himself to
be a solid supporter of women and our issues, though he makes claims to the
contrary. And while he may not have intended for his comments to come across as
insulting, it’s easy to see how they can be interpreted that way. Think about
it… if President Obama had made these same comments, I doubt many people would
have given it a second thought. The difference? President Obama is vocal and
active in support of women’s rights and equality, so his record speaks for
itself. Romney isn’t, and as a result nothing he does say in support of women’s
issues is going to come out sounding right, whether he is sincere or not.
