Editor’s note: this article was updated on May 28 with corrected information about Noelle Fitchett’s religious background.
CV NEWS FEED // A podcaster recently called on women with degrees and careers who agree with the pro-family commencement speech given by Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker to express their support for the speech on their X accounts.
“Can we start a trend with women with degrees and careers but agree with Harrison Butker’s speech?” wrote Noelle Fitchett, host of the podcast “Out of Context,” on on her X account on May 16:
I’ll go first: my name is Noelle, I have three degrees, and I agree that the world needs more masculinity and that wives/mothers are vital for society.
As CatholicVote previously reported, during Butker’s commencement speech he condemned abortion, surrogacy, euthanasia, and in vitro fertilization, among other issues. He also talked about the vocation of marriage, and his love for his wife.
According to a transcript of his speech published by the National Catholic Register, Butker said, “I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation.”
He continued, “I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
Butker’s speech went viral and was met with criticism and backlash from many corners. At the same time, many Catholics, Christians, and conservatives expressed their support of his speech, notably on social media platforms such as X.
Fitchett’s post agreeing with Butker received hundreds of responses, including many which were critical, and some that were in support.
Catholic journalist Sheila Dabu Nonato responded to Fitchett’s post positively, sharing: “I have earned three degrees (two masters degrees). I am a stay-at-home mother, I homeschool, and I occasionally do freelance writing and podcast hosting.”
“To me, what Harrison Butker was vocalizing was the necessity of equalizing the role and work of mothers inside the home with mothers who work outside the home,” she continued:
In a society that values money, clout and power as markers of worldly “success,” the vocation of stay-at-home mothers is not truly valued and many times minimized and even denigrated as less than or a “drudgery” or “prison” that they should escape. [Stay at home moms’] work inside the home is, unfortunately, not as valued as work performed outside the home. These are my humble two cents
“Fully agree!!” responded a woman who is a 2019 graduate of Texas A&M University. “3 degrees by 30, work full time, still very much into my role as a wife who cooks/cleans/etc.”
“I have a BA, Masters and a doctorate and am proud of my career,” responded one mother. “I’m successful and well-respected, but above all else I’m a wife and mother first and if I had to choose to give one up, it’s not even a decision. Being a mom is the most important thing I ever did”.
“Yep!” another woman responded. “I have a bachelors and a masters, both in STEM, and a biblical marriages and children are needed in society to institute generations of Christian families and households.”
