Why Mike Pence's Marriage Is Dangerous For All Of Us
(Originally posted on www.feminactivist.com)
Karen and Mike Pence’s marriage, in a more perfect world, would not be a subject of discussion. Certainly, all marriages have their quirks and foibles. I refuse to judge a marriage too harshly because unless I’m a party to it, my understanding of it will always be flawed.
The fact that Mike Pence refuses to dine or drink while he’s alone with any woman other than his wife is one of those quirks. However, it doesn’t speak to his virtue or his godliness when he chooses to remove himself from situations where he is uncomfortable. Let’s not allow Vice-President Pence the grace of being anointed as the standard bearer for morals or values in this country. He’s not.
The recent discussion of the Pences is quite possibly a way to smooth the transition from Trump to Pence, when Trump’s schemes finally fall apart. Certainly as Dominionist Christians, the Pences are a hot ticket in conservative circles. They’re definitely the moral anti-dote to President Trump’s behavior. However, the Pences become public property of a sort once they ascend to the Presidency, and what we have with Mr. Pence is something decidedly un-Presidential. The fact is that Mike Pence erases women.
What else would you call it when a person puts a group both into the category of dangerous and untouchable as well as the category of non-entity? Women, who are not Mike Pence’s wife, simply don’t exist in his world. It would be laughable, except that women are voters (for now) and some countries (not ours) even trust women to lead them. How does a man, who erases women, deal with them? If history from other religious extremists is any guide, women will suffer extraordinarily under Pence.
Add to the fact that Mike Pence advocates for conversion therapy for the LBGQTIA community (another form of erasure), and roughly 60% of Americans suddenly disappear right before his eyes. Honestly, if you don’t see the problem with any of this, you are the problem. As embarrassing as it is to exist in a country run by a two-bit tyrant, imagine the damage when 60% of the country is effectively silenced.