It’s A Man’s World

So Beto is going to make this a standard stump line apparently:

can someone ask him why he thinks this is a hilarious joke https://t.co/qBX7pxE8mc

— Rachel McCarthy James (@rmccarthyjames) March 15, 2019

Anna North has an excellent piece on this particular bit of kidding-on-the-square:

The comment, some said, was meant as self-deprecation and an acknowledgment of the hard work Amy O’Rourke did for their family. But despite his intentions, Beto O’Rourke revealed a fundamental inequality of American life: While men throughout history have been able to rely on their wives to provide child care while they fulfill their political ambitions, women have rarely been able to count on partners to do the same. And as New York Magazine writer Rebecca Traister pointed out, a woman who joked about being a part-time parent while on the campaign trail would be harshly criticized — and might find her political career over before it began.

Highly related:

2 candidates, same mag. 1 is a 2nd term senator with detailed policy proposals that have driven the substantive side of the 2020 primary conversation, the other just lost a Senate race to a guy everybody hates. What else is different about them?? Hm gonna need a thinking cap pic.twitter.com/JngsGo7OTi

— Erin silent adoring wife Ryan (@morninggloria) March 13, 2019

When Beto thinks that treating gender inequities as a joke won’t affect the far more favorable coverage he gets than the considerably more accomplished women he’s running against, he’s all too right.