Rich Mom, Middle class Mom

Yeah ok Ann Romney works. Sure she does. A mom of five boys. And the Rosen comment was terrible with a capital T. But really? Do we really think Ann Romney with a quarter billion dollars is on the same footing as middle class mothers? I don't think so. A middle class mom has to do the work because there is no one else to do it. A rich mom can hire anybody she wants and does. A rich mom can pick and choose and has the means to throw the whole thing over and have other people stand in for her.

A rich mom has nannies. A middle class mom has hands. A rich mom has gardeners. A middle class mom has her husband or she pushes the mower. A rich mom has cleaning people. A middle class mom has her aching back. A rich mom goes on vacations. A middle class mom goes on weekends. A rich mom hires nannies. A middle class mom gives her kid a key. A rich mom doesn't have to change diapers or do the laundry or even make the coffee. A middle class mom changes the diapers gets to the laundry when she can and makes instant coffee. A rich mom puts her kid in every sports program in the world. A middle class mom chooses one she can afford. A rich mom shops wherever she wants and buys whatever she wants. A middleclass mom goes to Sams Club and agonizes over her purchases. A rich mom goes out to dinner and the theatre. A middleclass mom drives through McDonalds and falls asleep in front of the television.

It goes on and on. So Rosen spouted off and the Obama campaign threw her under the bus. But if you think your life is like someone who has a quarter billion dollars then you are delusional. Ninety percent of stress is FINANCIAL. Ann Romney has enough money to buy a house for her kids, her dog, herself, her nanny, her cat, Mitt, and then fly off to Europe or go on a world tour. Very different realities. She had five boys and  five nannies, five cleaning people, five gardeners, and five beauticians, and five people to shop for her. As the famous quote goes, the rich are very different from you and me.

So Rosen has been crucified. Maybe what she should have said is Ann Romney is so rich she never would have had to change one diaper if she didnt' want to. If she did change a diaper, it was a voluntary decision. Hmmm...doesn't sound like work to me.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com/

Women Writing Big Books

A piece in the New York Times Book Review lamented that women are not taken seriously in the Big Book arena. That men are given preferential treatment for the literary heavyweight title and that women are relegated to relationship novels. I can see why some people may think this way but certainly as a male writer of literary fiction I sometimes wish I were a woman. Why? Because women read fiction and it would seem a natural fit for editors to choose a book by a woman over a man.

I get the top of the mountain stuff for the Big Book. I think it is probably given over to men in some way. Can a woman bring the world view into the Big Book that is required for someone to say...now there is a great literary novel that sums it all up. I would say yes, but that is sort of esoteric coin of the realm stuff. Most of us just want to keep getting published and read and let me tell you as a white male writer you feel sometimes you just cant get a fair shake.

Of course it is the work that matters. And so maybe all of this is frivolous talk about who gets preferential treatment in the grand sweepstakes of literary glory. I suppose women see men as still dominant in the Franzen top of the mountain epics...but for this writer, I sure wouldn't mind being the gender that loves to read fiction.

Being a man, I think I'm stuck.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com/