A piece in the Washington Post today on Vice President Mike Pence’s wife, Karen, and their marriage contained a few details involving Pence’s aversion to eating in the company of other women without his wife present. Naturally, this struck some people as odd, other people rushed in on defense for some reason, and now it’s all trending on Twitter.
Pence’s strict dining rules were actually revealed way back in 2002, as the Post notes, “In 2002, Mike Pence told the Hill that he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won’t attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side, either.” Apparently, either Mike Pence has no friends or colleagues who are women who he’s ever had reason to grab a meal with, or he’s deliberately avoided doing so—neither of which are great options.
First of all, I’d venture a guess that any woman in politics, or any other field for that matter, has had to eat alone with a man who was not her husband, because men are ubiquitous in the business world. The fact that avoiding women has apparently been easy for Pence is, on its own, pretty awful. Then, if he’s avoiding these mealtime situations on purpose, there’s the fact that he’s treating literally any woman as some kind of temptation rather than a human being who should be treated the same as any other human being, with no special rules based on gender. Also, if this is how Pence’s rules for interacting with the world work, they’re incredibly heteronormative, but hey, we can’t act like that’s a surprise coming from Mike Pence.
as a bisexual i am unable to go out for meals with anyone. socialising is a nightmare. please help i’m hungry https://t.co/PcwbK4TnC5
— daisy (@mermatriarch) March 30, 2017
If I refused to be alone with men I would have a hard time keeping a job. That men can have decades long careers without women says a lot.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 30, 2017
Mike Pence isn’t allowed to have dinner alone with any woman except his wife for fear that he won’t be able to resist taking her rights away
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) March 29, 2017
.@mike_pence Woman in elevator was eating chips. Did I just have private lunch with her?? I burned my penis on office kettle to be safe⛪️🇺🇸
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) March 30, 2017
I also refuse to dine alone with any woman who is not Mike Pence’s wife.
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) March 30, 2017
Mike Pence doesn’t go on boats without his wife because sea-faring vessels are typically called “she,” and he might try to fuck one.
— Ariel Dumas (@ArielDumas) March 30, 2017
Guys, I need you to do a thought experiment.
A guy says ‘I can’t be alone with kids. Ever. Except my own’.
That’s Mike Pence, with women
— Emma Evans (@TrancewithMe) March 30, 2017
You all realize this Mike Pence thing is a way for him to “ethically” discriminate against women. I’d like to see that challenged in court.
— Ren Jender (@renjender) March 30, 2017
People being like, “don’t judge Mike Pence’s marriage”
Um… judging other people’s marriages is Pence’s favorite extracurricular activity
— Jessie Lahr (@JessieLahrr) March 30, 2017
what if “the resistance” is just surrounding mike pence with women until he loses his mind
— Steve Kandell (@SteveKandell) March 29, 2017
Serious Question: What self respecting woman would want to dine alone with @VP Mike Pence to begin with? #PenceDiningWithWomen
— JerryB (@BangingChains) March 30, 2017
Mike Pence, an adult who is grown,
Cannot sit with women alone.
However, he can
Stand by an old man
Whose fondness for groping is known.— Limericking (@Limericking) March 29, 2017
The “defense” doesn’t make Pence’s stance any better, spearheaded right now by this fellow:
We’ve reached full Idiocracy when a married man is mocked as puritanical for not going on dates with other women. What a backwards world.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 30, 2017
Seriously what’s the appropriate reason for a married person to go out for a meal alone with a member of the other sex (outside of family)?
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 30, 2017
A “business dinner” with just you and another woman? Yeah that’s disrespect, at a minimum. https://t.co/GcPIMBNt1B
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 30, 2017
Rather than doing something questionable and demanding your spouse “trust” you, maybe you should try respecting him? https://t.co/Ln6F1z3Hin
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 30, 2017
Charming. Here’s the fun thing about respect in a relationship/marriage: It has to be mutual. If someone it’s seen as “disrespect” to your spouse to interact with someone of any gender in the same way you would another, it might be that your spouse doesn’t respect you. It’s also bizarre to think of two people eating a meal together as a “date” just because they’re not the same gender. In case you had any doubts about the kind of person who comes to the defense of this kind of thinking, well:
Yes I’m a straight, normal, married man so I don’t go out making friends with women, nor do I have any desire to https://t.co/7DUHEAeXj2
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 30, 2017
The men who defend this line of thinking literally do not think they should treat women the same way they’d treat another man, and they’re proud of it. Welcome to 2017, where we’re supposed to simultaneously believe that there’s no inherent sexism in our society and that it’s not only normal but moral for men to exclude women from things as basic as friendship. All the snark in the world doesn’t make that feel any better.
(image via Dan Fleckner / Shutterstock.com)
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