For misstopia

[salinea]

You know, since I started watching The Good Wife, Julianna Margulies totally has been my inner vision of Catelyn. It's going to freel weird when the HBO show will start.

Comments

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

But Alicia only quit her career when she had a baby, that seems like an
appropriate call of duty

Not an iron-clad one, and to feel that it's a duty would require some conservative notions of gender roles. I also think the life of a suburban housewife with a politician husband is pretty damn restrictive, and someone like Catelyn (duty-bound but also take-charge) would need an iron-clad rule telling her to do it if she were to accept it. I guess I see Catelyn as relatively progressive for a medieval woman, and Alicia as relatively conservative for a modern woman (not necessarily in politics, but in lifestyle). I do see what you mean about the going south/coming back to work thing, though.

[misstopia.livejournal.com]

to feel that it's a duty would require some conservative notions of gender roles
Someone in this position could feel like their child deserves some hands-on parental care regardless of gender, but then that's where the socioeconomic pressures come in. There are plenty of women of all politics who have to put their career on hold simply because it's just easier for men to continue working. Men don't get paternity leave, places are unwilling to hire/promote women in their 20s and 30s because those are child-bearing years (regardless of whether or not they profess to wanting children), etc.

I also think the life of a suburban housewife with a politician husband is pretty damn restrictive
Well with all due respect ... I think that's a sterotypical viewpoint. Housewives/SAHMs aren't now what you'd think of from the 1950's, nor are they all what you'd see on The Real Housewives of XYZ. Or at least, I'm not really sure what restrictions would be on her that didn't relate to being a mother and in politics (and thus would apply if she was a working mother too)? And that shouldn't be a problem for Catelyn considering her lifestyle. She might be somewhat progressive as far as careers go (she wasn't exactly advocating for equal standing in the eyes of the law, and she yielded power when it was practical to do so), but for example I doubt she'd have sex outside marriage or something like that (she isn't judgy about it either, but neither does Alicia strike me that way).

I think Alicia's pretty normal for a modern woman of her particular social stratum, I know a lot of women like her (my aunt is ... very similar). Our generation will be different, but we're 25, not 40 with kids. Society really doesn't make it easy for mothers to have fast track careers.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

Well with all due respect ...
I think that's a sterotypical viewpoint.

I don't know, everything I've read about prominent politicians and their wives suggests that they do get judged by a 1950s standard, and the political game seems to be set up to rely on that standard (where you're at a disadvantage if you're not a man who has a wife who acts in a certain way). We're not talking about an ordinary private individual who chooses to stay at home.

I understand the socioeconomic pressures, and why a couple who thinks the kids need a parent at home would end up picking the mom for that job. It's still pretty different to my mind from a clear-cut duty. The idea of duty in the modern world can cut in both directions (either in favor of staying at home or in having a career), IMO.