Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Presidential parenthood

How many American presidents have been the father of sons?

I ask because I can only think of 2, in recent memory: Kennedy & Bush Snr

I am sure that the current instance is not the first example of unmarried teenage pregnancy in the daughter of a senior politician. I was pondering the reaction, wondering to what extent this could be said to be a feminist issue

I doubt it would be seen as a reflection on a male candidate’s parenting skills – it is the mother’s job to raise her daughter properly, to know how to behave herself – whatever that means.

I was at college with a girl who, as part of the preparations for leaving home, was marched off to Harley Street by her mother to be kitted out because “I am NOT going to have you getting pregnant.” I never met her, but she sounded terrifying to me

I also remember in the 1960s that the daughter of a senior politician became an Unmarried Mother, but what made it newsworthy was her declared intention to keep the baby (rather than give it up for adoption), not her father’s failure to keep his daughter on the straight & narrow

The other sense in which it would be different is if a political son had impregnated a girl, unless the circumstances were truly horrifying