22 January, 2018

She was one of us ... but no longer

So, back in October, I noted that our new Prime Minister was one of us, a No Kidding woman. Turns out it wasn't by choice, as she's always said she would like children, and has said that she and her partner had been told they were going to need help to conceive, and that they had put that on hold when she became leader of the Labour Party in the middle of last year.

In case you haven't heard, as the news has gone around the world, she has announced that she is pregnant. Given her openness about their infertility (though I doubt she would use that word), and my desire to see women in all positions, regardless of their family arrangements, I am very pleased for her. I wince a bit that she's going to be used as an example of the "stop trying so hard/just relax and it will happen" brigade, though I doubt she was at all relaxed during the election campaign, which is when she must have conceived (although she found out only after the election).

I also am pleased that the initial public reaction - that I heard or read at least - was positive ... well, except for my SIL, who ranted at me on whatsapp that it was dishonest of her to take the position when she knew she was pregnant, that she'd never cope doing both jobs. I knew I couldn't respond with any of my normal responses, which would have been "if she says she can cope, and has plans for the event, then I believe her," or "you'd never say that about a man," because the inevitable response (either said bluntly, or implicit in a withering comeback) would have been "you've never had a baby, so what would you know?"

So I just said, "well, isn't it good that you're not a New Zealander!"

7 comments:

  1. Love your response to your sister! I would never have had such a smart answer that quickly.
    I did think of you and your blog post when reading the news...
    Have a good week!

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  2. I saw this news headline and thought about all the people who would immediately be critical and yet none of that criticism would exist is she was a man.

    I also love your response to SIL. Knowing that someone plays a certain card, this was a creative way around that.

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  3. Your witty comeback to your SIL made me smile. I usually need more time to process, so the quick remarks are few...

    I'm glad that you are able to see the positive in this situation and that the news didn't cause you too much pain.

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  4. Oh man, you're the best for your response to your SIL! So, um, you're not allowed to make any career moves into big opportunities when possibly becoming pregnant? That's BUNK. But what do I know? :) I get that feeling of, "hmmm, good for you, but that kind of sucks that now you'll be heralded as a 'success story' and people will draw all kinds of wonky corroborations between your success and various things you did/didn't do." Gaaahhhhh. It's not at all the same but I felt a little twinge of grrr when I found out Eva Longoria is pregnant. Can't explain it. Well, hopefully she does a great job balancing it all (or is open about NOT balancing it all but is still able to do her job) and can thumb her nose at the naysayers.

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  5. I'm happy for our PM and I loved your response to your SIL. I think most Kiwis are happy for her and how exciting to have a beehive baby.
    dropping by from microblogmondays.

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  6. I'm ticked at your SIL for several reasons, and I'm tickled with you for your perfect response to her.

    Has the Just Relax brigade started coming out? Ick.

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  7. I was hoping you would blog about this when I saw it in the news! :) Congratulations & best wishes to your PM & her husband/partner, and kudos to you for coming up with the PERFECT comeback!!

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