# Question to Republican voting woman. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377 "2014-04-04T22:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/1 "2014-04-04T22:32:48Z")
How are Republican voting woman able to dismiss this and still vote Republican? Mona Charen and the Heritage Foundation. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-women-gop-mrs--men-oped-0404-20140404-4,0,6100081.story](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-women-gop-mrs--men-oped-0404-20140404-4,0,6100081.story) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/2 "2014-04-04T23:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > The reality, the panelists at Heritage said, is that women are less happy than they were before the feminist movement, that women enjoy domestic work and that most moms would prefer not to work full time, if at all. I’m sure there are some people who enjoy domestic work. I’m not sure I’ve ever _met_ these people, but I’m sure they exist! In any case, “Get back in the kitchen” is not a winning message, GOP. ETA: Ack. I am not a Republican. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/3 "2014-04-05T00:18:07Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > How are Republican voting woman able to dismiss this and still vote Republican? Their husbands tell them to vote Republican? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/4 "2014-04-05T00:37:50Z")
> [@](#): > > “We should show concern for everybody by extending the marriage franchise to everybody,” panelist Mollie Hemingway proposed. “Everybody go out, right now, go get married if you’re not married,” she said to laughter, “and we should be able to solve all these problems.” They belong to the party that is actively fighting against extending the “marriage franchise” to everyone. Why are their heads not exploding from all the irony? If I wanted to be an opinionated blowhard like these crones are, I’d tell women the problem isn’t that they aren’t getting married. The problem is that they are too busy caring for other people. Namely, their children and the men in their lives. If women would only release themselves from these burdens, they can have fatter wallets, less stress, and more economic freedom. They can take more risks, like starting their own businesses or moving halfway across the country to good employment opportunities. They can work harder at the office so they can rise the ranks and become CEO. And they won’t be slowed down by all that baby weight! But I recognize this is pretty crappy advice, even if it’s got some grains of truth. Not everyone is happy with being single and childfree. And not everyone is happy being married with children. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/5 "2014-04-05T01:23:32Z")
My guess is a few nuts in the party saying stuff like that isn’t enough for them to dismiss the entire party if they agree with Republicans on most other things. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/6 "2014-04-05T01:44:42Z")
I came to this thread intending to defend my Republican sisters; we have different priorities, and we politically support the party that supports our priorities. Then I read the article. I believe marriage and families should be supported by the state, because I believe in stability and generating the next generation. I waver between despairing and flummoxed. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/7 "2014-04-05T03:09:33Z")
Sorry j666. Didn’t mean to ruin your day. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![watergallop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3bc359/32.png) [@watergallop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watergallop)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/8 "2014-04-05T07:19:08Z")
I remember reading somewhere that women who have small children prefer working part-time over both full-time work and being a stay-at-home mom. That makes sense to me - you get to leave the house and talk to adults and (hopefully) be respected for your intellect/ skills… but you’re not limited to seeing your kids only evenings and weekends. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/9 "2014-04-05T09:46:01Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > They belong to the party that is actively fighting against extending the “marriage franchise” to everyone. Why are their heads not exploding from all the irony? Not quite… DOMA was ended because of members of the GOP The POTUS made the decision to no longer fight the courts ruling that DOMA was unlawful. The lawsuit that brought an end to DOMA was filed by the… Log Cabin Republicans ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/10 "2014-04-05T16:05:05Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > My guess is a few nuts in the party saying stuff like that isn’t enough for them to dismiss the entire party if they agree with Republicans on most other things. This. Generally speaking, most Republicans that I know of either sex have little in common with, and might even feel somewhat alienated by, the party’s current leadership/agenda/pundits. However, due to longstanding loyalty to the GOP and/or because of various beliefs they hold (usu. fiscally related), voting for a Democrat is still outside of their comfort zone. Also, it has usually been my experience that supporters of both parties (myself included) tend to be dismissive of the more controversial aspects of their party’s agenda because our system of checks and balances tends to keep them in check. For example, a close moderate Republican friend of mine’s views on fiscal policy often result in her voting for pro-life and/or pro-DOMA candidates (she is neither) but she rationalizes this by saying that she trusts the judiciary to constrain the more extreme elements of the GOP on these type of issues. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/11 "2014-04-05T17:03:37Z")
“feminism has done so much damage to happiness.” For real? I have news. Each person is responsible for their own happiness. Male or Female. ---
**Author:** ![delsina363](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@delsina363](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delsina363)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/12 "2014-04-05T17:05:35Z")
I live in Boston. It is a very liberal State. Over my lifetime I have seen how the government works, and I hate it. 90% of people I know take advantage of benefits offered by our State. A lot of people have no drive, vision, or hope. They feel comfortable and safe living off benefits. Then they have kids, and those kids have kids. It is depressing and unless you are one of the few who escapes, you are destined to fail. If you do not work in this State you are eligible for welfare, food stamps, Section 8, that will pay your rent. They can get everything for free. Even phones!!! As for hard working folk like myself, I have to pay high taxes to support these people. One example: I grew up poor. My best friend became pregnant (as did most of the girls in my neighborhood) when she was either 14 or 15 y/o. Now this friend has never ever worked one day in her entire life. She had a total of 7 kids. They are all grown now. She always had her rent paid for, her utilities paid for, her food paid for, clothes paid for, ciggies paid for, drug of choice paid for…by the State. There are sooooo many things out there. What incentive do they have? None. Now 6 of her children are either on Social Security Disability (mental health), or other bennies from the State. Now they are having kids. I believe 4 of them are heroin users. Did you know if you live in housing, ie. the projects, you can get a FULL scholarship to college. If you have kids, they will pay for your daycare. I can go on and on and on. I believe in supporting good people who are down on their luck, but the abuse of bennies is insane. I am so jaded by all this, I could probably quit my job, blame it on anxiety and depression, get SSD, and welfare, and help with my mortgage, and food for me and my kids, free phone, and do not forget all the free health care I need. Did you know, you can also get free care for your pets too? They even pay for braces! I kid you not. I am paying for my kids braces, and they are expensive. I cannot even get my other kid braces right now, she has to wait. Oh yeah, if you do ever decide you want to do some work, do not worry, they will give you a State job. I have a very, very strong dislike of all the democratic bs that goes on. I guess if I was well off, and did not have to watch every cent I make, I too would be a democrat. Until then, I am stuck in the middle, entitled dems on my left, and crazy republicans on my right. O.K. I am done whining (but just for now) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/13 "2014-04-05T17:20:00Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > How are Republican voting woman able to dismiss this and still vote Republican? > Mona Charen and the Heritage Foundation. > > [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-women-gop-mrs--men-oped-0404-20140404-4,0,6100081.story](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-women-gop-mrs--men-oped-0404-20140404-4,0,6100081.story) There is a certain type of woman (my mother was unfortunately one of them) who have this fantasy of being a little housewife, being completely taken care of by their husband, and never having to actually do anything or be responsible for anything beyond cooking meals and some light cleaning. It is too these woman that the Heritage Foundation message will appeal to. Even when reality slams these woman in the head that their being taken care by Prince Charming fantasy isn’t going to happen, they will persist in believing in it’s possibility if only whatever outside source they use for a scrapegoat didn’t exist. Nothing is harder to stop than the human capacity to fantasize. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/14 "2014-04-05T18:35:39Z")
Wasn’t “Republican Voting Woman” a hit for the Guess Who? \*I got more important things to do Than debate Obamacare with you Now woman, I said stay away Republican woman, listen what I say The Koch brothers can hypnotize Chris Christie is someone I despise Now woman, I said get away Republican voting woman, listen what I say\* ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/15 "2014-04-05T22:01:18Z")
Data point: I know two upper-middle-class suburban non-working women who are Tea Party sympathisers and thought (or think) Palin was utterly cool, because, cute and good hair. Both of these women were quite open about the fact they let their Faux News watching husbands, God’s truth, write them cheat sheets about who for, and how to vote. I challenged both and got versions of “well, he pays the most attention to that stuff” and “but it’s soooo complicated.” Totally unashamed about it. At times like this I hate my gender. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/16 "2014-04-05T22:18:57Z")
> [@delsina363](#): > > I live in Boston. It is a very liberal State. Over my lifetime I have seen how the government works, and I hate it. 90% of people I know take advantage of benefits offered by our State. A lot of people have no drive, vision, or hope. They feel comfortable and safe living off benefits. Then they have kids, and those kids have kids. It is depressing and unless you are one of the few who escapes, you are destined to fail. > > If you do not work in this State you are eligible for welfare, food stamps, Section 8, that will pay your rent. They can get everything for free. Even phones!!! > > As for hard working folk like myself, I have to pay high taxes to support these people. One example: I grew up poor. My best friend became pregnant (as did most of the girls in my neighborhood) when she was either 14 or 15 y/o. > > Now this friend has never ever worked one day in her entire life. She had a total of 7 kids. They are all grown now. She always had her rent paid for, her utilities paid for, her food paid for, clothes paid for, ciggies paid for, drug of choice paid for…by the State. There are sooooo many things out there. > > What incentive do they have? None. Now 6 of her children are either on Social Security Disability (mental health), or other bennies from the State. Now they are having kids. I believe 4 of them are heroin users. > > Did you know if you live in housing, ie. the projects, you can get a FULL scholarship to college. If you have kids, they will pay for your daycare. > > I can go on and on and on. I believe in supporting good people who are down on their luck, but the abuse of bennies is insane. > > I am so jaded by all this, I could probably quit my job, blame it on anxiety and depression, get SSD, and welfare, and help with my mortgage, and food for me and my kids, free phone, and do not forget all the free health care I need. Did you know, you can also get free care for your pets too? > > They even pay for braces! I kid you not. I am paying for my kids braces, and they are expensive. I cannot even get my other kid braces right now, she has to wait. > > Oh yeah, if you do ever decide you want to do some work, do not worry, they will give you a State job. > > I have a very, very strong dislike of all the democratic bs that goes on. I guess if I was well off, and did not have to watch every cent I make, I too would be a democrat. Until then, I am stuck in the middle, entitled dems on my left, and crazy republicans on my right. O.K. I am done whining (but just for now) :smack: **delsina363** , anecdotal evidence are not valid arguments and statistical evidence generally indicates that people on welfare are not particularly lazier than the average person nor do they cheat the system. Are there some exceptions? Probably yes, but then there are plenty of bankers living lives of sybaritic luxury thanks to the bank bailouts which saved their arses back in '08. I agree though that teen pregnancy (and illegitimacy in general) is a terrible social evil. As for the rest of what you say, much of it can be solved by simply establishing a universal welfare state rather than a one that’s means-tested-ie assuring everyone has a minimum standard of living including health care, free daycare, and free college education (at least if one meets certain academic requirements). Another problem obviously is that there isn’t enough taxation of the wealthy ensuring that a lot of taxes fall on the middle-class instead. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/17 "2014-04-05T23:04:04Z")
It doesn’t matter. We are not affiliated with our party, regardless of which party, because we agree with 100% of what is said. We each have a unique set of priorities, and those at the top of the list drive the decision. We may or may not meet the stereotype for that party. Your priority might be gay marriage. Mine might be gov’t spending. It doesn’t mean no dem cares about spending or that no rep agrees with gay marriage rights. There are extreme opinions about every subject in every party. I don’t understand why this is so mysterious? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/18 "2014-04-06T00:30:03Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > … Your priority might be gay marriage. Mine might be gov’t spending. It doesn’t mean no dem cares about spending or that no rep agrees with gay marriage rights. There are extreme opinions about every subject in every party. I don’t understand why this is so mysterious? My priority is a woman’s right to her own body. My priority is human and civil rights in general. I think that’s more important than financial policy. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/19 "2014-04-06T00:32:28Z")
> [@](#): > > and that most moms would prefer not to work full time, if at all. I know this dad prefers to not work at all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377/20 "2014-04-06T00:34:28Z")
To you. But decisions about those subjects aren’t the things that directly impact my daily life. If we all had the same views and priorities, there would be no need to vote. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-to-republican-voting-woman/685377.md?page=2)