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The Case for Trophy Wives

Posted by Katherine Swanson

There has been some discussion over the past few months about political trophy wives in the media, specifically Fred Thompson’s wife, Jeri Thompson, and I can’t help but add my two cents to this debate.

Jeri Thompson hails from Naperville, Illinois, not far from Wilmette. She went to DePauw University in Indiana and spent about ten years living “in sin” with a boyfriend and not doing anything particularly “career oriented”. In the late 90’s she met divorced senator Fred Thompson and they started to date. At this time Jeri was working on a website about Tennessee politics and her relationship with Fred catered nicely to this venture. He is 64 and she is 40. They were married in 2002 and he is now running for the presidency.

First and foremost I would like to state that I absolutely hate when people bash large age gap couples. Are they happy? Is it what they want? Good! Go mind your own business! How does her being younger affect anyone other than her and her significant other? Plain and simple, it doesn’t affect anyone else. Leave them alone and let them just be married. Many people argue that its “creepy and weird”. My response is that while it might seem “weird and creepy”, it’s creepy to you and not to them. At the end of the day they are the ones that are married. All of America is not in their marriage. It is him and her and if it works for them who are you to say anything negative about it? All of America is not privy to their personal life and so why do we even care? Are we jealous and angry or are we simply grossed out? Well, here’s what… it doesn’t matter what we think. It’s their life to live and as the old adage goes; if you have nothing nice to say why say anything at all!?

It has also been proven time and time again that potential first ladies sway an election about as much as a still day sways a kite. There is no conclusive evidence to prove that first wives, or husbands, sway elections. Personally, I do not find her to be that outrageous compared with things other political wives of the past.

The term “trophy wife”, as Jeri is referred to, is also grossly misunderstood. Trophy wives are not simple, young bimbos that sit in their husbands shadow and shop all day long. Granted some do shop all day but the traditional definition of a trophy wife is a women that is younger AND accomplished in her own right. She’s nice to look at but she also has a point of view and something to say and why wouldn’t an older man, like Fred Thompson, be attracted to that? Jeri Thompson is no fool. She is educated and there has been pubic discussion about her role within the campaign and her political prowess. Contrary to popular belief that says you cannot be young, beautiful, and also smart it is possible and she is one example of it. While I would not exactly label the term “trophy wife” as being “empowering” per se I would go as far to suggest that it isn’t as negative as some would have you believe, although popular culture might suggest other wise.

Finally, I would like to address one point that has been bothering me for some time. This is the sort of the common, stereotypical thing to say but I think we should take a moment and consider what would happen if Bill Clinton was 14 years younger than Hillary. I think public out cry from some would be much different however, I would like to state and I would feel the same way I do about Jeri Thompson. If there happy and the relationship is satisfying to them, who cares!?

Posted: November 12, 2007 10:01 pm | 1 comment
Tags: age, Fred Thompson, Hillary Clinton, Jeri Thompson, politics, relationships, trophy wives