does anyone else find the spectacle of world leaders bringing wives to London and the laying on of a special dinner deeply disturbing?

[hatwoman]

it's like the 1950s ffs. even putting aside the huge issue as to why so many of the world leaders are men how come they need a fecking spousal hand to hold? how come these woman haven;t got better stuff to do? when was the last time anyone on here had their partner come with them when they travel for business? or accompany their partner when he/she travels? it's just weird.

That's what Prince Philip has done for the last 50 years, I suppose.

Well thats a whole other discussion, anna! - do your main loyalties lie with (a) supporting your dh (b) cherishing your children or (c) seizing the opportunity to tag along for the shopping/charity visits because you feel fulfilled by them?

Wives usually play an important role in business as well hosting events for clients, hence the term corprate wife.

have sudden mental image of all the summit wives behaving like Prince Philip.....

Nighbynight
That might be mildly amusing.

I do support my DH, and would have colleagues/customers over for a meal or go with him on a freebie business trip but I don't have my photo in the world press whilst doing so.

Well, if you think that supporting your DH in what is for him an extraordinarily high-profile, stress-inducing moment is demeaning, that's my very definition of a crap concept of relationships!

anna, I haven't said that the husband supporting role is demeaning - its a perfectly valid point of view. Yet, we do tend to think its strange if a woman puts her husband before her children.

anyway, in this case, they probably didnt have much choice.

What i find quite off-putting is that on GMTV this morning () they were talking about the importance of the G20 meeting, protesters etc then they discussed the difference of Obama's wife's clothing compared to Gordon Brown's wife's clothing (possibly too much punctuation there!)
Seemed to me that it was man's business compared to little wife's business. Pah!

Sorry nighbynight I didn't mean you to think I was getting at you!

I certainly think that in high-profile and stressful cases like this, DHs/DWs need support more than children, who can be left at home with another carer for a few days.

Deeply disturbing. I think the whole G20 thing is a complete waste of time and money in any case but adding in the wives just makes it even worse.

You can still "cherish" your children even leaving them a few days a year in the care of someone you trust!!!

Exactly Franca . And it is actually good for children to know that sometimes their parents put one another before their children!

BBC news is at it again - they've rolled out Alexandra Shulman to discuss Michelle Obama's 'not really inside out' cardigan. All a bit trivial.

I have no problem with the spouses being there, but would prefer that the media focussed less on their frocks (as the two men have stayed away).

I agree Melanie.

bonsoir anna - what a ridiculous thing to say about crap relationships. nothing about what I've said says that supporting your partner is demeaning. I'm talking about a particular - public - kind of support in a very particular context, and about the differing public perceptions of male and female roles as supportive partners. if you read my posts as saying that there's something wrong with supporting your partner then either I'm not expressing myself well, you're not reading well or you just don't get that there's an interesting gender-based dynamic at play here that's worth discussing.

Gosh what very hard back pedalling!

I wonder if the "portrayal" of the accompanying spouses is more 1950s than the meaning of their actual presence? I mean all this interest in outfits etc, I thought it ended with Jacqueline Kennedy?

where's the back-pedalling?

franca - I certainly think you are right that they are two different things - both interesting. and both, in different ways and imo, worrying.

The dumbing down of women, in general, in the media is very worrying 9I live in Italy now, and it's really bad here). Still thinking about PM spouses presence at such events.

Women do a good enough job of putting themselves down by the way they dress/act and think.They don't need the help of ridiculous journalists.

Well if you are at home with your children, then a few days won't do them any harm.
But if you work long days anyway, as I do, then any extra absences tend to be met with reproaches and bad behaviour.

(remember what happened to one of the Blair children when Cherie took a break!)

They are the power behind the throne. And such women aren't always better off left at home. Imagine Lady Macbeth popping round to babysit. My friend saw Obama drive by Tower Bridge on Tuesday. She was quite excited despite not having a clue what the whole G20 thing is about. She's more Hello magazine so information on the dresses of wives is just what she likes.

I don't think any of them have time for shopping, and looking at their outfits (as you do) it seems it wasn't a priority before they left their home countries either

I love accompanying my Dh on business trips, especially to other countries and cultures.
We are a package deal, and a LOT of opinions are formed and decisions made within the group of women.

Most of the women I've met at ambassadors / business etc dos, have MBAs and higher degrees with a lot of corporate / entrepreneurial working experience, and voluntary work under their belts.

Most have kids, a lot of them may have taken a career break for a few years whilst their kids are young, and for the duration of whatever posting their (usually higher paid) husband is on, and most of them are really fabulous, intelligent, articulate, generous and engaging women.

WAGS they most certainly ain't. To say they just 'tag along' shows a real lack of understanding of how the world really works.