Twitter users are using the hashtag #PostcardsforMacron to respond to French president Emmanuel Macron’s recent comment suggesting that any woman who would choose to have a large family must not be well-educated. Women are sharing photos of their large families – along with their own academic credentials – to show that being educated and being open to life are not mutually exclusive.
During a Gates Foundation “Goalkeepers” event held Sept. 25-26, Macron was speaking about high fertility rate in Africa when he said, “Present me the woman who decided, being perfectly educated, to have seven, eight or nine children.”
Catholic University professor Dr. Catherine R. Pakaluk answered Macron’s request by sharing a photo of herself in her doctoral robes, along with six of her eight children. In a follow-up tweet she explained that she holds both a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has “Eight children by choice.”
Postcards for Macron #postcardsforMacron pic.twitter.com/fmX1vzITpv
— Catherine R Pakaluk (@CRPakaluk) October 16, 2018
Many others followed Dr. Pakaluk’s lead, showing their own families and how education and family life can go hand-in-hand:
Stanford graduate, electrical engineer, mom of 11. #postcardsforMacron pic.twitter.com/Gl1Py63j7v
— Beth Hockel (@ehockel1) October 16, 2018
#postcardsforMacron My wife, a medical doctor and mother of seven ;) pic.twitter.com/0EldehPMUp
— Eric Kigozi (@ekigozi) October 17, 2018
My mother has a doctorate from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and eight children. #postcardsforMacron @EmmanuelMacron pic.twitter.com/WWmPwY3wTZ
— Pater Edmund (@sancrucensis) October 18, 2018
#postcardsformacron Actually it’s BECAUSE I’m educated that we had the intellect and wisdom to see the supreme value in being open to life. pic.twitter.com/fVfKYE8ipd
— Shannon M. Jones (@jones959) October 17, 2018
#postcardsforMacron PhD, valedictorian, Phi beta kappa, professor, author, blah, blah, blah. And bringing up these six kiddos is the best thing I’ve ever been privileged to be part of. pic.twitter.com/a6a4u9UVJT
— Angela Franks (@theologianmom) October 17, 2018
See more at the hashtag #PostcardsforMacron on Twitter.