Do I even need to confirm for you that a real live GOPer said this?
Phil Gingrey, In DOMA Speech, Says Children Should Take Classes On Traditional Gender Roles
Yep, Phil Gingrey from Georgia has a sad that we don't conform to gender stereotypes and reinforce them by teaching them in schools. We are not doing right by our children by not taking a step back to "Mad Men" or an earlier time. I'm sure his next speech will lament the absence of separate restrooms and water fountains for blacks and whites but I digress.
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) told colleagues on the House floor on Tuesday that young boys and girls should take classes on traditional gender roles in a marriage because there are some things fathers do "maybe a little bit better" than mothers.
"You know, maybe part of the problem is we need to go back into the schools at a very early age, maybe at the grade school level, and have a class for the young girls and have a class for the young boys and say, you know, this is whatâs important," Gingrey said in a speech supporting the Defense of Marriage Act. "This is what a father does that is maybe a little different, maybe a little bit better than the talents that a mom has in a certain area. And the same thing for the young girls, that, you know, this is what a mom does, and this is what is important from the standpoint of that union which we call marriage."
Of course he doesn't specify what those things are or why it matters who does them. I guess I'm just contrary by nature or maybe it's just when authoritarian patriarchy raises its ugly head.
And golly, he even acknowledges that his position might be a bit out of touch but WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!
Gingrey, the leading Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, said he realizes the "father knows best" adage he subscribed to "back in the old days of television" is antiquated, but he still believes that children need fathers and women need husbands in order for families to thrive.
Who knew all those families that don't fit Gingrey's definition and thought they were thriving, didn't know they weren't. And families headed by single parents or same sex partners, well you know you have no place in Gingrey's world.
How glad I am that we've progressed from Leave it to Beaver to shows like The Fosters:
The Fosters is an American drama series on ABC Family that premiered on June 3, 2013. Produced by Jennifer Lopez and her production company Nuyorican Productions, the series follows the lives of the Foster family, an interracial lesbian couple who are raising biological and adoptive children together.
Someone should tell Gingrey that families, TV and real ones, have come a long way since June Cleaver vacuumed in pearls.