I was planning on writing about something entirely different this week, but there have been a couple of articles following an interview with Miriam González Durántez in this week's Grazia that have irked me in the past two days.
I say 'irked'. That's understating it. They have made me incredibly angry. The general gist, for those who haven't it, is that Nick Clegg tries to get home after his morning meetings a few times a week to take his children to school. The conclusions drawn by Judith Woods, Quentin Letts and Virginia Blackburn, are that:
1.Nick Clegg should be focussing on running the country, not looking after his children.
2.Miriam should be doing it instead.
3.In fact, why on earth does she have a career, when what she should really be doing is supporting her husband?
4.She's Spanish.
There are a lot of things that I'm sure a lot of right-minded people will find wrong with this - even ignoring point four. But all of these articles essentially boil down to the fact that these writers believe a woman's place is to support her husband, and not to have a career of their own. Or at least, have a career unless your husband is successful (because if he's earning money why would you want to work? Surely women don't really want careers! They want to be at home with the children!).
Now, Miriam González Durántez (as Mrs Clegg 'insists' on being called), is a very clever and incredibly successful woman, who doesn't need me to defend her. But these articles are espousing outdated and frankly damaging stereotypes.
Leaving aside the casual misogyny that is the main focus of these pieces, the suggestion that as a successful and wealthy man, Nick Clegg should neither have nor want any part in his children's daily lives is ridiculous. The fact that our DPM wants to spend time with his family is surely a good thing. Implying that men shouldn't care about their offspring and should just concentrate on their jobs is just as bad as saying the opposite about women.
During last year's General Election when I was working for the Lib Dems, Miriam did not give up work to join Nick on the campaign trail. Not just because she has a successful job (and frankly, who has the luxury of taking a month off work at a time), but because she thought that women should not be there to provide window dressing for their husbands' careers. Several of my friends (who like me were in their mid-20s and childless) contacted me to say how refreshing this was.
So, while Quentin Letts frets that Nick would be unable to concentrate during Cabinet meetings for fear he has forgotten to pack his sons' PE kits, and Judith Woods asks why, 'if the children are such a priority', his wife has a job that involves traveling, I and many of my contemporaries applaud women like Miriam González Durántez for showing that there is a role for bright, successful women with families that extends beyond window dressing.
Oh, and because I've just realised I forgot to mention it, for the record I'm a 'self-confessed' feminist too.