Thursday, January 04, 2007
Nancy Pelosi and I have something in common -- we both eat a lot of chocolate. Unlike her, though, I don't subsist almost entirely on it, as she is reported to do. Pelosi took the oath of office today as speaker of the house, the very first woman to do so. (Sheesh, it only took 200 years.) She was "layered in grandchildren," as they said on NPR, the grandma with a sweet tooth taking her place in history.
Pelosi's not the first woman to make political hay out of being a matriarch, but I really envy her rivilege in being able to do so. For centuries, women were denied the vote and many other rights out of the very fact of their womanness -- the idea that their possession of a uterus made them weaker of head. Pelosi and many others have worked to turn their unique positions and experiences as women into assets rather than detriments, and it's a symbol of our country's progress that whatever backlash she may have experienced hasn't kept her from getting to the head of the House.
Meanwhile, though, the rest of us working moms eye her jealously, wishing we could somehow turn our children into little engines that could help propel our careers. Instead, we must do our very best to keep them off of our bosses' radar screens, lest they think we can't hack it. We keep child-care issues to ourselves, calling in "sick" if the nanny doesn't show up, holding mumbled conversations if we have to call home during working hours. Showing up at work layered in children is not an option.
Life is sweet for Pelosi. I'm glad for her, and I'm glad for women. Let's hope that in her house, moms, grandmas, aunties and all women get the kind of support and props they deserve.
