To listen to the spin the media is putting on it, Silda Spitzer is one weak sister for standing by her cheating husband, Eliot.  The pundits were out in mass today asking how any woman with an ounce of self-respect could put up with a philandering husband — even going so far as to suggest money, power, or security must be at the core of such a decision.  You know, one of the things I like about women is that we don’t desert people at the first hint of scandal or problems in the relationship whether that relationship is  marriage, friendship, or familial.  Unlike many men who bolt or stray when the wife becomes terminally ill, a child is born with a disability, or the wife (God forbid) gains weight, women are loyal — at times to a fault.  I’m not saying Ms. Spitzer should stay with the governor — nor am I saying she should leave.  All I’m saying is that women who provide support to others when they need it most, then make longer-term decisions later after much thought, deliberation, fact-finding or counseling, should be lauded not ridiculed.  They are wonderful examples to their daughters (and sons) for how to handle relationship crises.  Let those among us who are without sin cast the first stone. 

TAGS: Eliot Spitzer, loyalty, Silda Spitzer, stand by your man, women role models