Dear Leighton Smith: Please stop embarrassing us!

Abigail Johnson
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

Re: Jacinda Ardern’s baby is interfering with her job

Hi Leighton Smith, how are you?

I hope you enjoyed Father’s Day recently — a day to reflect on and appreciate our parents — specifically those we call fathers.

We’re pretty lucky as a nation, I reckon, to have an exemplary public display of fatherhood in Clarke Gayford. Wouldn’t you agree? It’s just lovely to see a man doing what good men have been doing for yonks. Parenting their child, that is. But even as Clarke provides wee Neve with the stay-at-home portion of her parenting, our Prime Minister is still her parent too. And babies aren’t just accessories that can be put away because there’s ‘more important business’ to attend too.

Babies are hard work — it’s part of the reason I don’t yet have one! Fostering a new human life takes a lot of effort. As an outsider, I’m sure I don’t even know the half of it.

When you make inflammatory (imo) statements like ‘the PM’s baby is interfering with her job’, you insult all working parents (imo). And you specifically insult mothers (imo), who face many more barriers to returning to work than men do (fact).

What we need to focus on is creating a working environment that allows for the next generation to exist with, and be raised by, their working parents. Sounds simple doesn’t it? What you’ve chosen to do instead is make this environment even more punishing for parents. Which is not very chill.

One thing that has made me super proud to be a Kiwi (aside from being first in the world to give women the vote, our nuclear-free stance, marriage equality, being onto our third female PM, the fact plastic bags are on their way out of supermarkets etc) is how cool we’ve been about the PM becoming a parent while in the job. With other parts of the world seemingly on fire, the way we respond to our politicians is comparatively even-tempered. The NZ media has been largely respectful. Bloody respectful actually, compared to how I imagine the US media might treat a pregnant president (which would require them actually electing a young woman for office — can you imagine?). When you start bleating with these sorts of incendiary takes (imo), you take away our ability to show off.

None of what you say goes into a vacuum. All you do with a take like this is make life harder for working parents, and specifically working mothers.

Sincerely,

A person whose head has fallen off.

(because you caused my head to fall off)

Abigail Johnson

Written by

Abigail is a writer at Villainesse.com. She identifies as a Power Lesbian — only half ironically.

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