A profile of his wife Karen Pence in the Washington Post has revealed she is the only woman he will eat a meal alone with. And he won’t attend any events where alcohol is being served without her.
The couple are evangelical Christians, a faith known to encourage male followers not to be alone with other women to avoid looking unfaithful.
In a 2002 interview, he compared it to “building a zone around your marriage.”
“If there’s alcohol being served and people are being loose, I want to have the best-looking brunette in the room standing next to me,” he said. What?!
Sexist or not?
Some conservatives have applauded Pence’s commitment to his marriage but others have condemned the ‘rule’ as sexist and reinforcing the old cliché that men can’t control themselves when alone with women.
Not that the Trump administration is setting the bar high for gender equality.
One of their first moves when they took office was to take down the Obama Equal Pay Pledge from the White House website.
Just last week Donald Trump also signed an order revoking Barack Obama’s 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order which guarantees transparent pay for female workers.
What is driving the thinking that openly dismantles male/female equality?
There’s no word yet on what the women working in the White House think of the ‘rule’.
We’re guessing they’re not expected to think – or what they think is obviously worth less.
