PSC candidate’s wife says she chose ‘homemaker’ job

Jennie Chancey supports her husband’s bid for public office, but from a biblical and historical perspective, she doesn’t think she necessarily has the right to vote for him.

Instead of “one man, one vote,” she believes in “one household, one vote.”

Among her writings on her Web site, Ladies Against Feminism: “Should women vote? Yes! Here’s the point: Every woman does vote, whether or not she physically pulls the lever or puts the paper in the box. A wife casts her vote every time she discusses the issues of the day with her husband.”

Some women might prefer a more tangible sign of their vote.

Jennie Chancey is married to Matt Chancey, who faces Twinkle Cavanaugh in the GOP runoff Tuesday in the Public Service Commission president race.

Jennie Chancey clears up her views by saying she does vote.

“I don’t oppose women voting,” she said. “All I am taking is a historical viewpoint. I am not a revolutionary saying, ‘Let’s go back.’ I am just saying let’s stand back and think.”

Matt Chancey gives voters cause to stand back and think also, based on the manner in which his name is thrown around numerous religious blogs and Web sites.

Chancey is associated with Doug Phillips of Vision Forum Ministries, and a leader of the patriarchy movement, which embraces the biblical teaching that men lead the households and women take a more submissive role.

Jennie Chancey manages a busy household consisting of eight children. She homeschools the oldest four.

Chancey says he is “good friends” with Phillips and has been for some time. He says he does not believe in everything Phillips believes. Some of the Chanceys’ writings are published on the Vision Forum Web site.

Jennie Chancey concluded one article with: “I am simply overwhelmed with gratitude for a husband who cherishes my role and does not seek to pull me out of it to supplement his income or take over his God-given role. I am a blessed woman ...”

And, Matt Chancey says, a strong woman.

“My wife is a homemaker,” he said. “If you practice this, you are dubbed weird. What is weird is, most people drop their kids off at daycare every day. It is not weird to be a homemaker. A woman can be whatever she wants to be, except a homemaker. People say, she is ‘only’ a homemaker, or ‘she doesn’t work.’ I am married to a working woman.”

Jennie Chancey does not believe in the divided household idea, whereby she and her husband could vote differently on an issue, thereby canceling each other’s vote. Just as politicians are elected as representatives of the people, Chancey views her husband as the decision-maker in the household, but that doesn’t mean her views aren’t heard.

“I am totally for women having an opinion. My husband and I talk constantly about the issues. I am not that family doormat. The issues we approach are from a very scriptural viewpoint,” she said.

Chancey, who co-wrote the book “Passionate Housewives Desperate for God,” thinks it silly that her writings could affect her husband’s bid for office, but Troy University-Dothan political science professor Richard Martin says the spouses of candidates do affect voters’ views, depending on how different they are and how vocally they are expressed.

“In most instances, the intensity of the effort — and if the effort meshes with the general public attitude — is what matters most. And it is different in different regions,” Martin said.

“In this part of the state, if there is a strong emphasis on biblical, the spouse might get more attention than in other parts. It could be positive. It could be negative.”

Martin said voters want to know if the candidate is able to separate personal opinion from work. Is Chancey open to women in the workplace?

He says yes, since he has worked under women, over them and beside them for years.

The candidate in Matt Chancey asks what their personal lifestyles has to do with sustainable energy and regulating public utilities.

While their ideas are not mainstream, Martin said the Chanceys’ views do not have to align with the general public.

Jennie Chancey said her views are not that far from constituents’.

“This is really a mainstream way of looking at things — especially in the South where men open doors for women,” she said. “You can call me ‘old-fashioned’ if you like. It all depends on how you define mainstream. If mainstream is homosexual marriage, then I am more than happy to be labeled old-fashioned.

“If telling women they shouldn’t even be allowed the choice to be homemakers is mainstream, then I am most definitely old-fashioned. I don’t like the feminist movement dictating to me what is mainstream and what is acceptable for me as a woman.

“Naturally, everyone has the right to choose his or her own path. It’s highly ironic to me that I am encouraged to think for myself unless I think differently from mainstream feminists,” she said by e-mail.