Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is at the eye of a raging storm after his commencement speech at Benedictine College. The NFL star addressed women at the ceremony and implied that “the vocation as a wife and as a mother” is when life truly starts for a woman. He even equated Pride month to “deadly sins“. This sparked major backlash resulting in even the NFL putting out a statement disagreeing with Butker.
Maria Shriver took to Twitter to condemn Butker. While she emphasized the necessity of free speech, she also called him out for demeaning women. In his speech, Butker told female graduates, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” He has been tagged as a misogynist and sexist for his views.
Butker had a piece of advice for the men in the audience as well. He encouraged them to “be unapologetic in your masculinity,” and to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
Maria Shriver Calls Out Harrison Butker’s Speech Promoting ‘Tradwife’ Culture
Maria Shriver, who is a journalist and an author belonging to the Kennedy family, knows the act of balancing work and home life. She shares four kids with Arnold Schwarzenegger, with whom she was married for a long time.
Shriver called out Harrison Butker in a social media post that read, “What point was Harrison Butker really trying to make to women in his graduation speech about their present day life choices? Did he really want them, aka us, to believe that our lives truly only begin when we lean into the vocation of wife and mother? Look, everyone has the right to free speech in our country. That’s the benefit of living in a democracy. But those of us who are women and who have a voice have the right to disagree with Butker.”
She continued, “As a woman who has leaned into my vocation of living a meaningful life and working inside and outside the home to not only raise good humans but also raise up our country in various ways. I think it’s demeaning to women to imply that their choices outside of wife and motherhood pale in comparison to that of homemaker.”
Shriver acknowledged Harrison’s wife Isabelle’s decision to be a homemaker and finding happiness in it, as claimed by Butker, but she pointed out how many women don’t have the luxury to not work, given financial pressure.
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NFL Distances Itself From Harrison Butker’s Controversial Views
Harrison Butker’s career might be in jeopardy as people are asking the Chiefs to fire him. The team has distanced itself from the player. Even the NFL issued a statement talking about inclusion, as opposed to Butker’s comments.
Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president, chief diversity and inclusion officer told People, “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
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