John Kasich Said Women Had to Leave Their Kitchens. Offensive? Not in Context.

Hostilities have apparently resumed in the GOP War on Women: John Kasich told a group of people at a townhall in Virginia that women “left their kitchens to vote for him,” according to the media.

The operative phrase being according to the media. 

It’s easy to see why the quote would offend women and feed into the idea that all Republicans—even mild-mannered Kasich—are hopelessly sexist, which is probably why Mashable, Jezebel and countless left-of-center journalists covered it. 

But Kasich’s remark is much less outrageous when restored to its proper context. Here’s what he said: 

How did I get elected? Nobody was — I didn’t have anybody for me. We just got an army of people and many women who left their kitchens to go out and go door to door and put yard signs up for me. All the way back, when things were different. Now you call home and everybody’s working. But at that time, early days, it was an army of the women that really helped me get elected to the state Senate. 

Kasich ran for state Senate in 1978. Yes, there were a lot of working women in 1978, but there were also a lot more housewives than there are today. It’s good that social progress over the last 35 years has given women—and men—more choice over what they do with their lives. Kasich’s comments don’t actually suggest that he opposes said social progress, and they certainly don’t suggest that modern women are just sitting at home with nothing better to do than distribute yard signs. 

In any case, there’s plenty to dislike about John Kasich (hint: his presidency would be an “interventionist nightmare”). No need for the media to quote him out of context.