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24 March 2008
Luke Trickett has to understand what his wife has done
The name "Libby Lenton" would be known world-wide as the name of one of the outstanding female swimmers of recent years. With good reason she is an Australian swimming icon. Libby is not only an outstanding sportswoman, she presents as a great example of the cheerful, bright, down-to-earth Aussie girl.
This last week just before the Olympic swimming trials, she asked the organisers to list her married name in the programming instead of her maiden name. The (as yet) unknown name Lisbeth Trickett will appear in programs and on the electronic results board.
Last year I saw a TV health program in which she took part with her husband. It struck me how open she was in declaring her love for him and in displaying her affection on national television. I thought of the frowning feminists who would regard that sort of behaviour as unnecessarily obsequious. Famous women have the duty to push the feminist campaign on behalf of their sisters. I could feel the cringing in academia, government departments, and self-appointed women's groups as Libby again last week publicly declared her love for her husband of one year. Among other things she said (as reported in the Herald Sun):
"Changing my name to Trickett has always been something I wanted to do, but straight after the wedding I thought I'd probably wait until I had finished swimming," Lenton told New Idea.
"It didn't feel right to still be Libby Lenton. It started to bug me when I would have to explain that Luke's surname was different to mine.
"I feel like Libby Trickett, I want to be that and I want people to know me as that."
She also spoke maturely about her swimming celebrity being of short duration, and that her future as a wife and mother was far more important.
I have a feeling that Mrs Libby Trickett did not mean her public declaration to be a political demonstration. She simply had in mind her love for her husband and her future family life.
Nevertheless, it was a powerful political demonstration on behalf of traditional marriage, and thus the morality of traditional marriage. The first people to understand this will be radical feminists and homosexual activists who know they cannot advance their political cause without destroying the traditional relationship between men and women, which expresses itself most fully in the formal sacralised union of female and male: marriage.
Luke Trickett must have a deep appreciation and understanding for what his wife has done. Those around him, family and friends, must ensure that he knows the significance of her stand. The remedy for the terrible youth problems we read and hear about daily in the media (binge drinking, violence, crime and so on) lies for the most part in the security and educational environment of the family where children are open to the nurturing compassionate qualities of the mother and the resolute responsible character of the father who knows when to encourage and when to be firm.
Boys need a strong, responsible father whom they can respect. Research has shown that the last thing a daughter needs is an absent weak-willed father. A father's affectionate understanding and constant encouragement are vital for a girl's healthy development. I refer readers to the bitter reflections of two of Australia's best known feminists (Germaine Greer and Anne Summers) have of their fathers.
If ever Luke Trickett puts a foot wrong as husband and father it will the next day be a point of demonstration in the lecture halls and seminar rooms of University Women's Studies departments all around Australia.
See the reports in the Herald Sun:
Libby's name just the Trickett
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