The relationship between Mary and James seems to be one of mutual respect, as seen from her highly spoken words for her husband in the article. When it comes to politics, the article shows that Mary and James are a complete contradiction of one another. Matalin admits, "I believe what I believe and I think he is utterly, totally, and completely wrong. But we agree on everything else." .
From an outside point of view, the role Mary Matalin has taken in her family is very much parallel with society's stereotype of a male. In the article, we find that Matalin is consistently traveling with her career, she is away from her children more frequently than her husband, and she has a higher status job. Yet, being away from her children is the focus of this article, and this is what brings criticism from her children. In the article Mary Matalin recalls a trip to the Middle East, when she first called home to find out that both of her daughter's hamsters had died. Next, Matalin recalls that she got blamed for their death, "Mommy, you left them in the windows. Everybody knows hamsters overheat." From this statement, we not only see that her young daughter is already personally blaming and criticizing her, but also she is already using allness terms in her anger. This is a minor case of criticism, however when you look at the age of her daughter, you can see that this can easily develop into a major problem later in life. Mary Matalin has definitely changed her past reputation as an absent mother, and now she says that she is able to nurture her marriage and spend more than enough time with her children. In the conclusion of the article, Matalin mentions that she is always asked why men do not have to take time away from work to spend time with their children. This statement is definitely from a pro-feminist approach. .
The second article that I found was from September 16, 2002 issue of People Magazine.
