Tips, tales, and non-partisan humour of a political wife. How to survive being a political wife.
Jeanette Rubio: A Not-So-Political Wife
Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio is a bit of a mystery among American Presidential nominee candidates’ political wives. She doesn’t give speeches and tends to remove herself from politics. What little we know of her can be gleaned by her actions more than what she’s said to interviewers.
Why Heidi Cruz Kicks Butt
Although this is a non-partisan blog, I am going to be very honest and just come out and say it: Heidi Cruz kicks butt. If she was running for President, it is likely I would vote for her.
1. Heidi is extremely driven (and really smart too).
Her mother claims that in the 5th grade Heidi announced that she was going to Harvard Business School. Eighteen years later she had not only completed her BA at Claremont and her master’s in European Business from Strausbourg, she was also standing in line to receive her M.B.A at Harvard. Suffice it to say this is a woman who was born driven.
Melania Trump, Much More Than Just A Pretty Face
Love him or hate him, it is pretty much assured that it would take a certain kind of woman to be the wife of Donald Trump. The couple’s ten year marriage has seen the birth of one son, the entry into fashion design, and –most recently—a great deal of stigma and ridicule attached to this former model from Slovenia.
Melania Trump Celebrates Her Husband’s Victory By Speaking Out Loud
Gawker’s latest side-swipe is only the latest in a long line of undercover hit pieces aimed at Melania to present her as the stereotypical “dumb model”. I wonder if she had been the wife of a less controversial candidate if these outlets would have resorted to such stereotypes. But it begs the question: is it true, is she nothing more than a pretty face? Let’s discover exactly who Melania Trump is and what type of First Lady she might make.
Her Beginnings
Melania Trump was born “Melanija Knavs” on April 26, 1970 in Slovenia’s lower valley to parents, Viktor and Amalija. Her father managed a string of motorcycle and car dealerships, and her mother worked in fashion providing her and her sister Ines with what would be considered a “middle class” lifestyle under the communist system. She attended the University of Ljublijana pursuing degrees in design and architecture, while modeling part time in Italy. As her modeling career took off, Melania left her studies behind to pursue it more aggressively.
Modeling and America
Melania worked for several years on the runways of Milan and Paris before making a leap to New York. It was there under the tutelage of Helmut Newton that her career in print ads expanded, and she eventually began to find work with Conde Nast periodicals and other well-known photographers like Patrick Demarchelier, and Mario Testino. In addition to being one of the featured models of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, Melania made the covers of Vogue, In Style, Vanity Fair, Allure, Harper’s Bazaare, Elle and other high end magazines.
Despite the naysayers who have made her nothing more than a trophy wife in the eyes of the public, this former girl from a Soviet block nation had managed to parlay her own assets into an established modeling career before even meeting Donald Trump. To go from Slovenia to New York, requires more than a pretty face. It takes work ethic, determination, and good networking. Most models never make it past catalog ads. Melania made it to New York and the cover of Vogue.
However, it was her modeling work and her transition to working at Trump Model Management which put Melania on the path of her future husband, and it can be said that meeting him certainly changed the trajectory of where she was heading.
Continue reading “Melania Trump, Much More Than Just A Pretty Face”
Breaking News- Political Wives are not extensions of their husbands!
In our political culture, there is a longstanding tradition of treating political wives as an extension of their politician husbands. This tradition does not exist when a man is married to a female politician. Case in point, the Clintons. How many times has Hillary been targeted, named and shamed for the actions of her husband? Too many times to count. Whereas Bill is never targeted for things his wife does as a politician.
I studied women’s studies and could give you a long feminist analysis of why this tradition exists, but the simple short answer is sexism.
All too often, political wives are treated as nothing more than extensions of their husbands.
As a political wife, I have experienced this on a number of occasions. Here is a particularly cringe-worthy experience from today. I reached out to offer my services for a cause I support and was told that I wasn’t welcome to assist this group because the person heading it doesn’t like my husband.
Their reasoning was that if I helped collect donations for people in need, I would try to give all of the credit to my husband, which would inevitably result in him getting positive press and making him look good.
Apparently this chain of events would devalue the contribution that the group was trying to make to society.
At first I thought this seemingly progressive person from the group must have misunderstood me. This individual who prides themselves on equality and social justice wouldn’t simply view me as a mere extension of my husband—would they?! Continue reading “How NOT To Be A Sexist Jerk: 3 Things Political Wives Wish You Knew”