The union of George and Kellyanne Conway was always a very well-liked exhibit in the museum of strange marriages. How did two people who appeared to be at such odds in public coexist at home?
What do you say to your wife after publicly insulting the leader she is paid to promote? What do you say to your conservative husband after a hard day at the office of obliterating norms?
Despite this, the Conways had been wed for many years, had four kids, and, at least until recently, had consistently appeared to be such devoted supporters of one another. He encouraged her, for example, to take the job as Trump’s campaign manager.
So with some sadness, enthusiasts of unlikely marriages learned this week that the Conways didn’t make it. “We are in the final stages of an amicable divorce,” the couple wrote in the statement. “We married more than two decades ago, cherish the many happy years (and four corgis) we’ve shared, and above all else, our four incredible children, who remain the heartbeat of our family and our top priority.”
The Conways’ story surprises many people not because they split up but because they could maintain their unity for a long time. Wasn’t it impossible due to their strong opinions of the Administration?
Marriage therapists point out that not all political factors must come together for a relationship to succeed; research indicates that 10% of couples do not have the same political views.
“Political differences like Kellyanne’s and George’s are not the best indicator of whether a marriage works or not,” says psychotherapist and author Daphne De Marneffe. “If the emotional relationship is working, the politics do not become a deal breaker. That said, the Trump era tested many couples—I’m guessing the worst political era for couples since the Vietnam War—and our polarized politics drives a sharper wedge when couples are already unskilled in managing their differences.”
Politics is becoming more of a flashpoint in all relationships, according to some therapists, and individuals aren’t getting any better at empathic listening.
“Political identity has become so important, so many values are wrapped up in it now,” says Bill Doherty, a University of Minnesota family social science professor who also started Braver Angels.
This organization seeks to unite people of political persuasions and has organized many open forums where married couples discuss their political differences.
“We moralize everything. ‘If you hold a different view of affirmative action than I do, if you’re against it, you must be racist. You must want to keep people down,’” he says, describing how opponents regard each other. “We’re not talking about public policy; we’re talking about your moral core.”
The timing intrigued some other folks. It has been more than two years since Trump left the White House. George no longer uses Kellyanne as his representative, and he tweets far less frequently.
Why break up when the crisis is over if the Conways could remain together while Trump was in office? Therapists claim that this is also a typical pattern.
According to Scott Stanley, a psychology professor at the University of Denver in Colorado, “Two people might pull together to get through something, but when the pressure is off, so is the effort,” Other couples fight stress for a while.
Still, the damage is more extensive than the gain in a strong bond due to the pressure. Repairing a marriage can often be challenging due to residual wounds; not only has the partnership been harmed, but also the persons themselves.
If you want to see other related posts, you can click on the link given below:
- When Did Lisa And Lenny Divorce? What Happened With The Hot Mic Moment?
- How Much Did Priscilla Presley Get In Her Divorce From Elvis?
Various pressures can affect a marriage, including interpersonal ones like an affair or addiction and external ones like health problems, financial difficulties, or a sick child.
According to Stanley, “It makes a difference for couples whether the pressure is purely an external threat or both external and interpersonal between the two partners,” “That was more the case for the Conways because they had two very different roles about something highly polarizing, publicly. That would have to be a really tough thing to handle.”
While the couple didn’t detail what predicated the split, Kellyanne’s memoir Here’s the Deal accused George of “cheating by tweeting,” and her media tour for the book offered some broad hints.
“George became an expert on many things people wanted him to be, and all I really wanted was my husband and the father of my children as I always had him,” she told CNN, noting that she was not made aware that her husband would be publicly criticizing her boss ahead of time.
“He can change his mind about Donald Trump. This is a free country. George owes no allegiance to a political party or a presidential candidate. But his vows to me, I feel, were broken, because we were all in.” George, for his part, says he took to Twitter to get his frustrations off his chest so that he wouldn’t scream at his wife.
Nobody knows what happens in a marriage, of course. Still, it’s possible that the Conways were so preoccupied with political matters—not to mention a teenage daughter who went viral for feuding with her mother on social media—that they simply lacked time to perform the necessary amount of relationship maintenance to keep the fires burning.
“Evidence from the UCLA Sloan Center study of dual career couples in Los Angeles shows that the majority of couples today focus on careers and children, and then their lives devolve into a very long to-do list that they get through together,” says John Gottman, who with his wife, Julie, has researched marriages and counseled couples for several decades.
“That’s why these late-divorcing couples appear to others to be a mystery. They don’t fight a lot, they’re a good team, it’s just that they’ve let the love die without even a whimper.”
Follow Newswatchlist.com for more information. You can also leave your thoughts in the comment section, and don’t forget to bookmark our website.
Leave a Reply