Mar 12th, 2008
Dina to Silda: “Stand By Yourself”
When I saw Silda Wall Spitzer standing next to her husband at at the podium, I couldn’t help thinking of Dina McGreevey in the same situation when her husband resigned from his post as governor of New Jersey in 2004. I remember hearing the question many times (and wondering myself) about why she literally stood by him as he made his announcement.
In a commentary in today’s New York Times she writes:
For me, I was essentially in the dark about what my husband was going to say. He never told me he was gay; he simply passed me a copy of his speech an hour before the press conference. I was in a fog. I certainly didn’t volunteer. I was in no emotional state to make a rational decision, and there simply wasn’t time. He asked me to stand next to him, and I did.
Frankly, all I was thinking about was my daughter. If I had to do it over again, I’d do the same thing. I did it for my daughter’s father.
Read the rest:
Stand by yourself
by Dina Matos McGreevey
March 12, 2008
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Related Post: McGreevey: Recently Asked Questions
As we watch one after another political wife take this position (Hillary anyone?), this question is coming up a lot and I don’t think we can judge until we’ve walked a mile in these shoes. However, I think Silda Spitzer’s situation is a little different from Dina MacGreevey’s though — what Eliot Spitzer did was illegal. I don’t know how you would explain that to your kids.
I too wondered why Silda stood next to him. It is hard to see women symbolically accept this type of treatment, especially such public figures.