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RSS icon Comments on Shorter Nicole Brodeur

1

Sooo . . . we shouldn't be recognizing women for their accomplishments? Granted, it's all a bit June Cleaver/traditional values-heavy for my tastes, but it sounds like she's a swell lady with a justifiably grateful husband. Is that so wrong?

Posted by Levislade | May 9, 2008 11:08 AM
2

You're such a sexist, ECB.

Posted by Mr. Poe | May 9, 2008 11:10 AM
3

The Republicans in Congress refused to recognize Mother's Day this week, too.

Posted by Peter F | May 9, 2008 11:12 AM
4

You sure told her!

Excpet for that part where you didn't and instead just continued to put your own foot in your mouth.

Posted by Iron My Shirt! | May 9, 2008 11:18 AM
5

Judgemental much? This woman seems very content with her life and it sounds like they have a happy little family there. I agree it's June Cleaver-ish, but if that's what makes her happy, good for her! And it's pretty damn great that her husband appreciates all she does.

Posted by Ingi | May 9, 2008 11:25 AM
6

You should have posted this Mother's Day gem instead:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_18_kids.html?source=mypi

Posted by Chalupa | May 9, 2008 11:27 AM
7

#1: The lady just had two babies at over age 40, cooks lunch and dinner every single day, works downtown, works out every day, and we can probably assume does most of the cleaning and child care.

Brodeur basically implies this is what a good woman should be, and the husband is an incredible man for thanking her once a year by buying her flowers and brunch (not even cooking it for once).

If this was a gay couple, everybody would recognize this situation as the extreme master/slave kink that it is.

Posted by poppy | May 9, 2008 11:35 AM
8

isn't feminism today supposed to be about "choices"? as in, if a woman wants the husband and the career and the 2.3 kids and to run her household with military precision, that's a-okay? and if she can pull it all off without missing a beat and swimming a couple miles every day, quite spectacular? some people are just really driven like that. that doesn't make you or me or anyone else lesser people because we can't do it all.

i do think it would probably be nice of this husband would pick up some of the slack and cook an occasional meal, rather than praising his wife via a columnist in the seattle times, but who's to say he doesn't? it sounds like he has a lot of respect for his wife, which is more than can be said for a lot of married people. good for both of them.

Posted by brandon | May 9, 2008 11:35 AM
9

This isn't about roles for men and women. This is about somebody's ambition that has no bounds.

Posted by Sussio | May 9, 2008 11:43 AM
10

I don't think we can really say what the dynamic of their relationship is based off of a crappy article written specifically only to honor the woman's accomplishments. Who's to say that the man doesn't help around the house, or that she loves swimming, or a big hobby of her's is cooking? There may be many non-traditional facets of their marriage the article doesn't explain. For one, I get the attitude that housework is a gender stereotype, but working downtown & swimming every morning?

I mean, if I meet a young lady who loves to cook for me, takes care of her body, and would be a great mother should I turn my back on her because other women in the past were treated unfairly?

This editorial (or whatever it is) is fluff and I cannot believe it appeared in a daily, but it not trying to define what being a great woman is -- it's trying to recognize one great woman and communicate the importance of being a grateful man.

Posted by bellevue & belmont | May 9, 2008 11:47 AM
11

My first thought: that's not a woman, that's a robot.

Erica can't possibly fathom that any woman would CHOOSE to live that kind of old-school 50's housewife lifestyle, but whatev, we all know that our beloved ECB isn't cut from that cloth anyway.

Personally, if I was the husband I'd feel trapped, and bored to tears.

Posted by Hernandez | May 9, 2008 12:09 PM
12

So Erica, your plan is to piss off every other writer in Seattle with your cheap snark, and then when any of them call you for your inevitable screwups, you can say it's only because you're enemies?

Posted by elenchos | May 9, 2008 12:10 PM
13

Erica has a plan? I thought this was just another entry in her "women not being what I want them to be" journal.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | May 9, 2008 12:17 PM
14

#10: Nobody says what this lady is doing is wrong. She sounds great. Brodeur is the one being offensive. It's an condescending article out of the 50's except for the added modern expectations that the wife should also have a full-time job and go to the gym.

"You can have it all" refers to the fact that most married women work as much as their husbands now, but still do the vast majority of housework, cooking, and childcare.

Posted by poppy | May 9, 2008 12:18 PM
15

Erica would have been happier if the woman in the letter ran for the White House while destroying the Democrat Party in the process; Oh and also voting for war all the time since it it politically expeidant to do so.

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger | May 9, 2008 12:26 PM
16

yeah, i don't get why we should be mocking this article, either. i guess i'm just a dumb broad.

Posted by szzza | May 9, 2008 12:34 PM
17

@7 "and we can probably assume does most of the cleaning and child care"

&

@14 "but still do the vast majority of housework, cooking, and childcare."

yes, when I get home from work (after the bar), I go straight to my scotch cabinet, then to my lazy boy, then watch sports, then yell at my wife to work with the kid, then call my mistress, then go to bed. EVERY male is like that. it's safe to assume. gay couples are obviously different. you know how it is.

and forget that this person is happy with their life. they should fight back and stand up for others' perceived injustices.

f-it we should just not pair up at all. every man/woman for themselves. we can never get that exact balance equal work worked out.


pfffffffffffffff

@14 "except for the added modern expectations that the wife should also have a full-time job and go to the gym."

how did this come to be? what brought on these modern expectations? if i remember correctly, Erica scolded Michelle Obama for quitting her job and taking time to be with her kids. how dare she! what kind of example is Michelle giving our younger generation of kids? for the cause, women with young children should always be at work damnit!

if Barak or any father took on that role "we can probably assume [the female still] does most of the cleaning and child care," because, you know.

Posted by cochise - fighting for father respect. | May 9, 2008 12:46 PM
18

poppy, you left out the part where he beats the shit out of her if his dinner is cold and has a steamy affair with his secretary. i mean if you're going to fill in the blanks with your own projections, why stop at him not doing qany of the housework? he's a much bigger asshole if you make him an abusive cheat, too.

Posted by brandon | May 9, 2008 1:03 PM
19

You are making fun of a successful woman who has a loving husband?

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Posted by Hartiepie | May 9, 2008 1:03 PM
20

Point No Point

Posted by umvue | May 9, 2008 1:13 PM
21

ECB's so mean. She's crushing the hopes of some male Sloggers that they'll have a Stepford wife of their own someday.

Posted by keshmeshi | May 9, 2008 1:37 PM
22

I say we'll have no more marriages. Those that are married - all but one - shall live. The rest shall keep as they are.

Posted by Hamlet | May 9, 2008 1:44 PM
23

I went to school with a Theresa Goetz, and she would be the correct age now to be that same Theresa Goetz with the job, kids, house, and so on. She was a brainy, overachieving kid in school and appears to be the same now.

Not terribly attractive, but could be counted on to be the first to turn in her term paper, a week before it was due, then ask, pretty please, for an extra-credit assignment to keep her busy for the next few days.

Nice to see she's happy with her over-achiever's packed life. She either has the constitution of a horse or she'll be dead of a stroke in ten more years.

Posted by Dr_Awesome | May 9, 2008 3:00 PM
24

Um, what's the big deal? I have two kids, and I work and exercise and cook dinner five nights week. I like to cook! My husband does the majority of the housework. I'm not an overacheiver by any stretch of the imagination. Nor am I June Cleaver.

I'm not sure why this is controversial. Or newsworthy, for that matter, although I think it was a nice enough column.

Posted by Babaloo | May 9, 2008 6:15 PM
25

I didn't find this article sexist either. The husband implies that if she had been a male athlete she would have been recognized for her accomplishments in college. He is obviously amazed at her organization and success in everything she wants to accomplish.

I would find it difficult to plan and cook meals with two children, hobbies, exercise, and a full-time job, but it can be done by a goal-oriented and determined person. Those are all things I would want to do optimally.

I'm also certain that such a strong-willed woman chose a husband of some merit, although the article isn't about him. He obviously thinks highly of her as well.

Posted by V | May 9, 2008 7:47 PM
26

Do any of these sloggers even know what they are talking about when they reference June Cleaver? Apparently not considering they are using the enter stereotype incorrect, as does Barnett. The mythical June Cleaver of the 1950s was a woman who abandoned her job to return to the home in post WWII to make room in the job market for the men returning from war. Given that the lady in this article has a job, she is not a stereotype for June Cleaver, a Stepford Wife or any other “housewife.” It does not make you sound particularly witty if you are not using a cultural refernce correctly and it completely diminishes the opinion you write. Nor are any of these sloggers by any stretch Betty Friedan. The feminist movement is concerned with the choices women have in society and whether or not women are being isolated and/or shoved into specific roles by a patriarchal society. Feminism at its core respects all choices of a person. Hence, if a woman wants to work, cook (has it occurred to any of you out there that maybe she just like to cook and she is not chained to the stove by an evil husband?) and swim, that her choices should be respected. This woman, in fact, represents the removal of the woman fromm the post-war one-dimension and elevates her to into a three dimensional image: work, family and self. Feminists should be happy. Well feminists who actually have read and understood the meaning of their movement. Being ignorant only brings feminism back ladies...reexamine your roots, and I’m not talking about your hair, before opening your mouth. Finally, as for the man who went to high school with this lady, the one who commented on her looks, please crawl back under whatever “awesome” rock you came from, your comment makes you far less attractive.

Posted by L | May 16, 2008 3:44 PM

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