Ann Romney is best known as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s wife, but she certainly does a lot more than stand by in the sidelines or sit with Mitt during conferences, speeches and debates.

She has made a name for herself amongst both the Republican and Democratic parties by taking stances against abortion rights, the gay community, the poor and equal pay for women in the workplace.  She has praised women who are domestic and submissive to their husbands. For that reason it really is no surprise that the Republicans praise her and the Democrats hate her, but my opinion of Ann Romney is not as black or white.

I have both positive and negative things to say about Ann Romney. She is seemingly a hypocrite for what she says since she is in the public eye bashing feminism when it is arguably the thing that allows her to express her beliefs on such a large scale. The best comparison I can make of Ann Romney is that she is a modern day Phyllis Schlafly, the famous antifeminist from the 1960s.

“The best comparison I can make of Ann Romney is that she is a modern day Phyllis Schlafly.”

Many people argue that Ann Romney is a woman-hater for her views on how women should be, but I personally believe that she is showing women that it is okay to be domestic, conservative, pro-life and submissive. While it can seem hard to believe these days, with the media and even everyday people, the old-fashioned and traditional type of woman still exists and it is good for those women to have someone as successful and Ann Romney or Phyllis Schlafly tell them it’s okay to be who they are rather than be constantly told they are wrong for feeling the way they do.

There is nothing wrong or harmful with a woman staying home to take care of her children, choosing to wait until marriage to be intimate with a man, choosing to keep an unplanned baby and get married right after high school to have a man support her rather than go onto higher education to make her own money. In fact some of these can be good things as they have been proven to provide stability to a family. That all being said, I disagree with Ann Romney’s opinions on what women should be because I am not that kind of woman, but as stated before I do commend her for sharing her opinion shamelessly for those women who are.

I do not agree with her not wanting equal pay for women for how ridiculous and illogical it is. Her argument is that women have not been in the work force as long as men and therefore do not deserve equal pay. Is she right that women have not been working high position jobs as long as men? Absolutely. But, if a woman and a man have the same credentials, worked the same amount of time at a company, and performed equally well on the job then they should be paid the same amount of money. No exceptions. Normally I am not this bothered by someone having a different opinion than my own; but hers is just plain warped and has little to no logic behind it.

I also disagree with her on her views concerning gay marriage, but her logic behind that view I understand and respect as religion is a key factor in whether someone supports gay marriage or not. Because Ann Romney says that she’s a Christian, she is more likely not to support it as many Christians don’t believe gays should get married because their religion does not accept gay marriage as valid. Her critics say her logic and opinions are better left in the past, but as far as I’m concerned, her opinion of equal pay for women is the one that should be left behind, not her traditional idea of womanhood. As for her opinion of gays and the poor: if you don’t agree with her, just ignore her. That’s what I do.