Why does the media have such a fetish with Mike Pence calling his wife "mother"?

[Tender Branson]

Around here a lot of old couples are calling their wives "mother" ... so nothing unusual to me really.

It is a reference that the wife is the "mother" of the family.

[angus]

I always call my wife mama when I'm talking to my son, and she always calls me daddy when she's talking to my son.

I suppose if I had a whole brood I'd get so used to doing it that I'd be calling her mama all the time, no matter whom I am speaking to.  Does Pence have many children?  If so, that's understandable.

Does the press fetishize it?  They're like that about everything.

[ag]

Considering that this is the first time I hear of it, does not seem to be such a media fetish.

[Ban my account ffs!]

When I was growing up, it was always "your mom" or "your dad".  When they got divorced, it was still "your mom" but my mom began referring to him as "your father" when she wasn't being particularly charitable to him.  

My grandparents always refer to each other as "grandma" or "grandpa" around us.  My grandma growing up always referred to her parents as 'mother and daddy'.

Men in northern MN wouldn't refer to their wives as "mother".  It's most often "my old lady".  "My old man" refers to your dad though.

[publicunofficial]

My parents used to call each other "Mom" or "Dad" when I was very little. But not when I was out of the room. The weird thing with Pence is that he apparently calls his wife "Mother, Mother" ALL of the time. Even when children aren't around.

It's not a controversy, it's just a weird quirk that got some attention.

[publicunofficial]

By the way for anyone confused, this is coming from a Rolling Stone piece on Pence:

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[Atlas Has Shrugged]

By the way for anyone confused, this is coming from a Rolling Stone piece on Pence:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Rolling Stone needs to stick to music. Their journalistic pieces are trash. "lol who calls their wife so weirdz lol!" is their basic point-I guess if you're trying to reach young white millennial liberals it works, but how many white millennials read Rolling Stone?

[Bismarck]

Yeah this is very common for people in Indiana who have had kids together, and I assume it is elsewhere too?

[publicunofficial]

By the way for anyone confused, this is coming from a Rolling Stone piece on Pence:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Rolling Stone needs to stick to music. Their journalistic pieces are trash. "lol who calls their wife so weirdz lol!" is their basic point-I guess if you're trying to reach young white millennial liberals it works, but how many white millennials read Rolling Stone?

I also hate Rolling Stone (Though I currently have a subscription, as my step-father is a bad Christmas gift giver) both for their bland aging hippie articles and their out of touch music tastes.

That being said calling your wife "Mother" when no children are present is kinda bizarre. To be honest, people who unironically call their moms "Mother" creep me the hell out.

[publicunofficial]

Yeah this is very common for people in Indiana who have had kids together, and I assume it is elsewhere too?

Is it an Indiana thing? Because the state legislators in the article seemed to be just as confused as I am.

[Zioneer]

Let me put it this way, I'm a Mormon, a religion considered incredibly weird by much of America, and I have never heard that form of address before. Pence is weird.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

to Rolling Stone, anything that isn't cool and current is strange, exotic and hilarious. 

[Confused Democrat]

Calling the more dominant partner in a relationship "daddy" is quite common in the gay community.

Maybe Pence is just a sub?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Wait, what?

That IS weird.

[Blue3]

NEVER heard about this about Pence before this thread.


And NEVER heard about this in other people in general.

[publicunofficial]

I think part of why this comes off as extra weird is it feels like no one really knows Mike Pence, the person. We've seen him speak during the VP debates, but it never felt like we were getting the "real" Mike Pence during that debate, we got politician Mike Pence.

And so now the first bit of info we get on his personality is "Awkward dinner host" and "Calls his wife "Mother"".

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I recall Williams Jennings Bryan in Inherit the Wind did this two or three times, which initially left me confused, but it doesn't seems to be quite as absurd in Middle America. I quite like it. It's intriguing. But I'm not sure I'll ever be adjusted to it.

[publicunofficial]

I recall Williams Jennings Bryan in Inherit the Wind did this two or three times, which initially left me confused, but it doesn't seems to be quite as absurd in Middle America. I quite like it. It's intriguing. But I'm not sure I'll ever be adjusted to it.

I think it'd be less weird if he called her "Mom". That way you can kind of write it off as "That's how he talks around his kids and he's so used to it that he doesn't even think about it". That would actually be kind of endearing. But "Mother" is so formal that it makes him sound like Norman Bates.

[DrScholl]

This is the first that I've heard of it. A lot of people would find that to be odd because it's an incredibly old term of endearment for a wife.

[Blue3]

[Bismarck]

It's usually something older people say, I remember my great grandparents referred to each other as "dad" and "mother". I wouldn't say it's common but this doesn't strike me as being unusual. It also may be more of a small town/ rural thing, although I guess Columbus isn't all that rural it sorta has a down home feel to it.

[Indy Texas]

It's usually something older people say, I remember my great grandparents referred to each other as "dad" and "mother". I wouldn't say it's common but this doesn't strike me as being unusual. It also may be more of a small town/ rural thing, although I guess Columbus isn't all that rural it sorta has a down home feel to it.

I've heard people my grandparents' age and older do this. I've never heard people my parents' (and Mike Pence's) age do this.

In a similar vein, Ronald Reagan's calling his wife "Mommy" could be deconstructed for eternity.

[Intell]

My parents call each other this, with my dad also calling my mum, the Nepalese equivalent of wife, and her shortened name, as well as the Nepalese eqivalent of mum. My mum, would also call my dad, the Nepalese equivalent of husband, and the Nepalese equivalent of "dad".

Nevertheless, disgusted at the responses of liberals on this thread.

[publicunofficial]

My parents call each other this, with my dad also calling my mum, the Nepalese equivalent of wife, and her shortened name, as well as the Nepalese eqivalent of mum. My mum, would also call my dad, the Nepalese equivalent of husband, and the Nepalese equivalent of "dad".

Nevertheless, disgusted at the responses of liberals on this thread.

Jesus Christ what's with the Dark Red avatars constantly needing to act morally superior at every turn.

"Disgusted?" All I did was note it's kind of weird. I even asked Alphonso for clarification on whether it's just a Hoosier tradition I was unfamiliar with. F**k off dude.

[Intell]

Let me put it this way, I'm a Mormon, a religion considered incredibly weird by much of America, and I have never heard that form of address before. Pence is weird.

Wait, what?

That IS weird.

My parents call each other this, with my dad also calling my mum, the Nepalese equivalent of wife, and her shortened name, as well as the Nepalese eqivalent of mum. My mum, would also call my dad, the Nepalese equivalent of husband, and the Nepalese equivalent of "dad".

Nevertheless, disgusted at the responses of liberals on this thread.

Jesus Christ what's with the Dark Red avatars constantly needing to act morally superior at every turn.

"Disgusted?" All I did was note it's kind of weird. I even asked Alphonso for clarification on whether it's just a Hoosier tradition I was unfamiliar with. F**k off dude.

Maybe disgusting is a strong word, but the response was unsettling it is. Especially the last, lovely, "picture" response.