A commencement speaker at a high school in Greentown, Ind., made headlines Monday after he urged female graduates to embrace their roles as future mothers and wives, and not CEOs and businesswomen.
Peter Heck, a social studies teacher at Eastern High School, said that the country would be better off if we had “more women as invested mothers,” according to ABC Indianapolis.
“The greatest impact you could ever contribute to our world is a loving investment in the lives of your precious children,” he added. “To solve the problems plaguing our society, we don’t need more women CEOs.”
While some audience members seemed inspired by Heck’s comments, others were less than pleased.
“It jumped out at me that he said they shouldn’t pursue a professional career,” Corey Parton, a junior at Eastern High School, told ABC Indianapolis. “Maybe that’s not how he meant it. Maybe he does want women to be successful and get a college degree, but it was a little out of place.”
After he came under fire for his remarks, Heck attempted to defend his comments in an interview with ABC Indianapolis.
“I was addressing both the ladies in the audience and the men, stressing to them that the most important role any of us will ever have is the role that we play in our families,” he told the station. “I challenged the men by telling them that to solve the problems of our society, we don’t need more millionaire entrepreneur men. We need more men acting as fierce defenders of their wives and providers for their children.”
While Heck attempted to cover his tracks, he seemed to advocate more for catapulting society back to the days before innovation and technological advancements than encouraging women to follow their dreams. Cavemen, after all, weren’t out inventing Apple computers, but rather hunting and gathering to feed their families.
He also fails to address the fact that women have the right to choose not to marry or raise children, instead preferring to believe that only women who become mothers will lead a meaningful life.
