In his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton seized
on child care as one of America's main concerns. Although he used the term
family,
few would argue that the image he evoked was one of tearful mothers having
to choose between their children and their jobs. In fact, the example
he used to further his point was his own mother who struggled to raise
him without the benefits of a male partner. As refreshing as it is
to hear the president of the United States express concern for working
parents, the issues he raised are not at all new, and ironically the image
he conjured up to support the need for day care rests firmly on an age-old
patriarchal notion of a woman's place being at home with her children.
This image of domesticity has long been an ideal in America's collective
consciousness. Even in 1998, women have not fully escaped from the
domestic sphere, with the president's wife serving as the most prominent
example of just how firmly that ideology remains entrenched.
An accomplished career woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton emphasized her motherly and domestic qualities during both election campaigns, engaging in a bake off with Barbara Bush during the first and suggesting that she wanted to adopt a child during the second. After stepping into a public role, she found herself roundly rebuked for her part in the failed universal health-care initiative. Such criticisms have led to her retreat into the White House, where she pens books on communal mothering, changes her hairstyle, and stands by her man. There is little more that Mrs. Clinton could do to create a more solid vision of a woman's place in a hopelessly outdated domestic sphere. Yet Mrs. Clinton's former career and persistent use of her maiden name suggest that she did not take up this mantle of her own volition but rather responded to an American public that wants its first lady to represent their ideal. Tragically, in playing that role, Hillary Rodham Clinton has found herself publicly humiliated by the man for whom she sacrificed her identity.
With the impeachment trial finished, it is perhaps time to examine the fall out. William Clinton is still the president, and the House and Senate stand tarnished by charges of allowing partisan politics guide their actions. Less clear are the potential winds of change in the realm of gender and politics. In the aftermath of Monica, Hillary Rodham Clinton is being touted as the senator for New York and Elizabeth Dole has announced her candidacy for the presidency. If either of these two women win their respective political battles, it will undoubtedly be linked to the disgust that many feel as a result of the private behavior of the leading male politician in the country. In exercising his zipper, William Clinton may have done more to further the destruction of old patriarchal notions of power and privilege than any woman could have had she acted intentionally. The public increasingly may begin to believe that a woman's place is not at home setting an example for her children but in the House of Representatives setting an example for her country. If Mrs. Clinton wins a senatorial seat in 2000, one can only hope that Mr. Clinton will then wisely follow his wife's example and stay at home to bake cookies.