"A woman must combine the role of mother, wife and politician"
About this Quote
Emma Bonino distills a paradox: a woman is expected to be a complete private citizen before she is admitted as a public one. The imperative must signals a social command rather than a personal preference. It names the extra burden placed on women in politics, who are measured not only by policies and performance but by how seamlessly they embody wifehood and motherhood. Men rarely face the symmetrical test of being model husbands and fathers to earn political legitimacy.
Bonino speaks from a specific Italian and European context where Catholic norms and family ideals have long shaped who is deemed trustworthy. Activists like Bonino challenged those norms by pushing for divorce and abortion rights, and by insisting that autonomy and citizenship are not contingent on domestic roles. Yet she also understands how the political arena still rewards women who present a reassuring domestic profile. The statement captures both the constraint and the strategy: to enter the halls of power, many women have had to integrate private and public identities in ways that men are not asked to do.
There is also a subversive edge. Combining roles does not reduce politics to household virtues; it brings the ethics of care, negotiation, and persistence into the public sphere as sources of strength. The skills honed in family life are not a detour from politics but part of political competence. At the same time, the quote is a critique of institutional design: until caregiving is shared and supported, the requirement to be mother, wife, and politician remains an unfair gatekeeping device.
Ultimately, Bonino points to a future where the sentence becomes obsolete. Political authority should not depend on marital status or parenthood, and the work of care should be valued and distributed so that anyone can serve. The true test of equality will be when a woman may, but need not, combine all three roles and still be taken seriously as a leader.
Bonino speaks from a specific Italian and European context where Catholic norms and family ideals have long shaped who is deemed trustworthy. Activists like Bonino challenged those norms by pushing for divorce and abortion rights, and by insisting that autonomy and citizenship are not contingent on domestic roles. Yet she also understands how the political arena still rewards women who present a reassuring domestic profile. The statement captures both the constraint and the strategy: to enter the halls of power, many women have had to integrate private and public identities in ways that men are not asked to do.
There is also a subversive edge. Combining roles does not reduce politics to household virtues; it brings the ethics of care, negotiation, and persistence into the public sphere as sources of strength. The skills honed in family life are not a detour from politics but part of political competence. At the same time, the quote is a critique of institutional design: until caregiving is shared and supported, the requirement to be mother, wife, and politician remains an unfair gatekeeping device.
Ultimately, Bonino points to a future where the sentence becomes obsolete. Political authority should not depend on marital status or parenthood, and the work of care should be valued and distributed so that anyone can serve. The true test of equality will be when a woman may, but need not, combine all three roles and still be taken seriously as a leader.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work-Life Balance |
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