A little bundle of joy is on its way to 1 Observatory Circle, but who is buoyed by the news? Nobody I know.
As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, JD and Usha Vance are increasing their brood. “We’re very excited to share the news that Usha is pregnant with our fourth child, a boy,” the second lady posted on her official X account.
It’s kind of a historic event – Usha will be the first sitting second lady to give birth – yet, women seem to find the news a bit unsettling, if not downright depressing.
“What’s that about?” a female lawyer asked me. “It’s like she’s just officially signing up to be a handmaiden.” Another woman in my circle says Usha’s new pregnancy solidifies her status as a “Stepford heritage wife.”
Those analogies might be heavy-handed and judgy, but, honestly, who can resist?
Litigator to poster girl for pronatalism
It’s simply impossible not to see this pregnancy as a public declaration of sorts. And a rebuke. For those who thought a woman of Usha’s intellect and refinement couldn’t possibly stomach JD much longer, she’s telling us she’s in it for the long haul. And not just staying — she’s doing her womanly duty: making more babies – perhaps as many as she can, or, if you prefer, as many as God bestows.
It all aligns perfectly with the “I want more babies in the United States of America” pronatalism that her hubby has been spouting. Whether this baby was planned or a fortuitous accident is anyone’s guess. (Slate muses that the pregnancy was designed to quash rumors that he’s ditching his brown wife for the very blond and white Erika Kirk.)
In any case, MAGA is milking it. “Let the record show, you have a vice president who practices what he preaches!” JD crowed at a rally recently. The Trump administration chimed in too, congratulating the Vances on social media, while boasting that it is “the most pro-family administration in history!” Conservatives are exultant, hailing the pregnancy as a “miracle,” a “blessing,” and an “emblem of the pronatalist movement.”
How diminishing to be celebrated for one’s reproductive value, though Usha doesn’t seem to mind. Indeed, Usha has undergone quite a transformation in less than two years – from litigator at an elite law firm, Munger Tolles, to the poster girl for pronatalism.
Almost overnight, it seems, she’s defined by her status as wife and mother. “Usha Vance is the proud wife of Vice President JD Vance and the mother of their three beautiful children, Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel,” reads the first line of her official White House biography. As for exercising her professional chops, well, she is on the board of the newly named Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center — a post that will surely make good use of her Yale Law degree.
The lobotomized joys of motherhood
I’m not saying Usha has been sucked into the womanosphere movement and its anti-feminist agenda. She may not be brainwashed (completely) – but she does seem anesthetized. Her coping strategy for an odious husband and the Grand Guignol of MAGA appears to be dissociation. And what better way to dissociate than to busy yourself with another baby and retreat into the lobotomized joys of motherhood?
She now floats through public appearances with that pleasant, vacant smile. We don’t know what this daughter of immigrants thinks about ICE’s cruelty or the racist bile that spills out from her husband’s mouth. She must have strong opinions. If she’s tried to moderate JD in any way, there’s scant evidence. But perhaps she’s decided it’s not her lane. After all, she’s all about the children now.
Like a corporate wife on a junket
At times, she seems to describe her current life as a pleasant excursion – like a corporate wife tagging along on an extended business trip with luxe amenities. On a mom podcast that made me tear my hair out, Usha gushed:
One of the really nice things about this role that we’re in is that our children can do a lot of things with us. It’s easier for us to travel with them in certain respects. There’s always transportation on Air Force 2 with JD. There’s always a car kind of waiting for us on the other end. Some of the really hard things about logistics with children kind of disappear.”
How nice that JD’s job comes with such lovely perks that ease family travel. The world could be burning but she’s just blandly talking about the logistics of shepherding her kids around town.
Could this highly accomplished woman be this boring and zoned out? In the few interviews she’s given, mainly to conservative news outlets, she seems deliberately blah. But are there unfathomable tensions brewing under that strangely serene facade?
We keep asking those questions because we’ve always assumed that Usha was one of us – intellectually curious, honest, and independent – albeit far more accomplished. But we are making projections. And so long as we do so, she will continue to disappoint.
Related posts:
Does Usha Vance Deserve Our Sympathy?
Erika Kirk: Trad Wife or Boss Babe?
Who am I? A journalist with 25 years of experience, I’m a former opinion columnist at Bloomberg Law and The American Lawyer. And yes, I’m a recovered lawyer. Click here if you’re curious to learn more.