"Mike Huckabee slams pregnant Natalie Portman as bad role model for having a baby 'out of wedlock'" - NY Daily News
"Mike Huckabee Rips Natalie Portman Over Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancy - AOL News
"Huckabee Slams Natalie Portman For Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancy" - New York Times
"Mike Huckabee Slams Single Mothers, Especially Natalie Portman" - Forbes
Just by reading these headlines (and lets face it, most people don't bother looking past this point), it would be safe to assume that Gov. Huckabee made some sort of nasty comment about Natalie Portman's pregnancy and lifestyle choices. However, what the Governor was actually commenting on was different than the headlines suggest.
Gov. Huckabee was asked what he thought on Portman's pregnancy. He responded,
You know Michael, one of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having these children, and they're doing just fine.' But there aren't really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie. And I think it gives a distorted image that yes, not everybody hires nannies, and caretakers, and nurses. Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care. And that's the story that we're not seeing, and it's unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of out of children wedlock.
You know, right now, 75 percent of black kids in this country are born out of wedlock. 61 percent of Hispanic kids -- across the board, 41 percent of all live births in America are out of wedlock births. And the cost of that is simply staggering.
Gov. Huckabee was trying to make a more general statement about the issue of single motherhood in this country. He was suggesting that while celebrities, like Natalie Portman, can afford to hire help and they have no financial worries, most single mothers do not have such a luxury. Gov. Huckabee's comments should have induced a much larger discussion on both single motherhood and teen pregnancy - both large issues today. In fact, according to a NY Daily News poll, so far 59% of voters believe that Portman "is sending the wrong message to young women who look up to her." Instead, the media, yet again, turned the story into a scandal and chose headlines that would sell.
Natalie Portman is not a single mother, she is in a serious relationship with a man that cares about her. I don't see the connection between single motherhood and Natalie Portman. (not that this is relevant to my point, but she is engaged) Perhaps Mike Huckabee and the conservative that is interviewing him are trying (albeit failing miserably) to capitalize on an example that doesn't fit into the negative stereotype of single motherhood that they don't approve of. I think the media got it right this time.
ReplyDeleteSide Bar: Natalie Portman is untouchable.
Sarah may be right about Portman being untouchable from a PR perspective, but the issue is still a live one, just because for many in the base of the Republican Party he's right in tune with their feelings. It's kind of like the famous episode when Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the TV show "Murphy Brown" for having the main character have a child out of wedlock. He was roundly criticized for it at the time, but the truth is that people have sort of come around to the feeling that maybe he was on to something.
ReplyDeleteYou are both right that it was a bad PR move by Huckabee to bring up the issue of single motherhood while discussing Natalie Portman.
ReplyDeleteWhile you are right Sarah, that Portman is engaged and perhaps that does not qualify her as a single mother, like I said, Huckabee took this chance to talk about that issue. That's what politicians do. They're constantly looking for ways to connect the questions they are being asked to answers they want to give.