Maria Shriver implored Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker to learn “dignity and respect” while expressing his right to freedom of speech following his sexist and anti-LGBTQ commencement address.
“As a woman who has leaned into my vocation of living a meaningful life 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 a homemaker,” the journalist began a lengthy statement shared on X Wednesday.
Shriver, 68, acknowledged that the athlete, 28, had a right to state that the “absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence” in the US, but she added that “those of us who are women and who have a voice have the right to disagree with Butker.”
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The “I’ve Been Thinking…” author discussed the countless revolutions it took for women to receive the right to vote, sign their names on checking accounts, access birth control pills and “so much more,” while Butker’s wife, Isabelle Butker, has been able to enjoy the life of a homemaker in a time when “most families can’t get by without both parents working.”
“It’s a luxury to get the choice she has gotten,” Shriver wrote. “The vast majority of women have to put food on the table, while also raising kids, caring for aging parents … the list goes on!”
The former first lady of California also lambasted the NFL player’s comments about how men “set the tone for the culture,” arguing that everyone can set the tone for the future.
“Women, men, gay, straight — of course we can! I will not tell Mr. Butker to stick to kicking, but I would suggest next time he speaks to women first and listen to someone with a clearer take on where most women find themselves in 2024,” she concluded.
The National Football League also condemned Harrison’s speech at Benedictine College last weekend.
“His views are not those of the NFL as an organization,” the league’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Jonathan Beane, told People Wednesday.
“The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
During his speech at the private Catholic college, the three-time Super Bowl champion attacked “dangerous gender ideologies” and President Biden’s “bad policies and poor leadership.”
“Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder,” he added.
Harrison then directly addressed the matriculating women, telling them that their “most important title” should be “homemaker.”
“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 said.
Notably, the footballer’s mother, Elizabeth Keller Butker, is an accomplished physicist who has worked in the department of radiation oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine since 1988.
