[This is about Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and the backlash over his graduation speech at Benedictine College, a traditionalist Catholic school, where he talked about women and “homemaking”]
I hope I don't get into trouble for this.
Immediate family aside, I've had three long relations with women, two in marriage. All of them had strong and important careers. All are grandmothers now.
I haven't asked them*, but I venture to guess that each would say that what they feel most fulfilled by, over their long careers, over their rich, varied and successful lives, what they are happiest about, is the wonderful children they brought up.
And that's all Harrison Butker was saying in his commencement address. Bunker being a famous NFL football star, giving a commencement speech at a Catholic college.
He did NOT say that women should not aspire to a career. That’s a given. But he also said they should not feel ashamed to enjoy motherhood, even staying at home to bring up kids.
The well-meant movement to "liberate" women from housework has had a lot of downsides. Especially in the Black community where Big Society programs of
Lyndon Johnson led to huge increases in single motherhood and fatherless children. (e.g. Liberals: “
Please stop helping us” by
Jason Riley).
The Left are now attacking Butker for the mere suggestion that women might want to stay at home to raise a family. That the only way a woman can fulfil herself is to spend a life toiling away at a career, even if this means no family (as it increasingly does). They are calling him a misogynist; a bigot; and, of course, a racist. They are quoting Taylor Swift now on tour, who has said she has to interest in marriage or motherhood. And that’s what to aspire to: career uber alles.
I think it’s all pretty sad. Even liberals like
Bill Maher are
calling out the crazies. Saying, for goodness sake, it’s just a view, and lots of people have it. Ease up.
This is yet again the danger of good intentions. Ideologically driven. The road to hell is lined with good intentions.
*I’ve since asked one, and she confirmed my guess. Yes, the most fulfilling has been family.
Even though career was important. And important too, to the family.
/Snip:
To judge by the internet reaction, Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker is guilty of a dreaded double doink — a missed field-goal attempt that embarrassingly hits both uprights — with his commencement address the other day.
The NFL has distanced itself from Butker's unadorned socially conservative speech at Benedictine College, a Catholic school in Kansas. He's accused, meanwhile, of potentially driving women away from the NFL and, even worse, perhaps offending Taylor Swift by quoting one of her lyrics.
The first thing to say about this is that Butker is a traditionalist Catholic giving a speech to traditionalist Catholic students graduating from a traditionalist Catholic school. Should we be surprised he sounded like a traditionalist Catholic?
Read on…
