Chris Christie and Why Teaching Intersects With Women’s Rights
NJ Governor Chris Christie Yelling At Teacher
Normally, I write my short notes, but I’d like to dedicate some time to this issue with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s othering of a teacher this past weekend at a political rally of his. Most of the coverage around this event has centered on the tenor politicians have set in their quest to reform education. As Christie wags a finger at this woman, the crowd cheers, signaling a societal acknowledgment that politicians can lay waste to any courtesy towards anyone, and that democracy is overrated. Surely, dissenters get jeers at any rally, but this particular type of jeer further solidified the idea that teachers’ rights are aligned with women’s rights.
For those unaware, teaching has had the perception of “woman’s work” for the better part of the last century. Without workers’ rights and collective bargaining, some of the rights teachers have these days wouldn’t exist. Yet, it seems clear that teaching as a woman-dominated profession would get accosted by a patriarchal government. The facts are clear: 85% of K-12 teachers are women and 80% of our government officials are men. Even with a margin of error of 5% (give or take), Christie’s finger-waging of this teacher is not just symbolic of the attitudes against teachers, but women as a whole.
How the East Coast Governator gets away with this speaks volumes for why everyone needs to