What Does Melania Trump’s Presence (or Lack Thereof) at the RNC Tell Us About the Ideal Republican Woman?

Of course, there are plenty of Republican lawmakers’ wives who do step out and take up space. Vance’s wife, Usha, whose debut in Milwaukee was filled with references to her husband as a “tough Marine” and “working-class guy,” is among them. So maybe Melania’s press shyness is her personal preference and not any real indicator of the way her husband’s political set sees the women who raise their children, tend to their homes, and generally perform the often-invisible domestic labor that so often falls along gendered lines. That said, as more and more evidence piles up of a second Trump administration’s threat to abortion rights and other issues that disproportionately affect women, I have to wonder: Is the ideal Republican wife one who’s…simply not around to pass judgment?