Angela de Jong gets the wind from the front at the desk of RTL Tonight. The AD diva arouses the anger of Antoinnette Scheulderman with her statements. “A flat white to fetch? This is really ridiculous!”
AD opinion diva Angela de Jong states in a column that people who consciously remain childless are doing themselves a disservice, but this arouses the anger of the consciously childless interviewer Antoinette Scheulderman. The two confronted each other yesterday in the failed talk show RTL Tonightled by presenter Leonie ter Braak.
Flat white
Angela portrays childless women as selfish types who only think about themselves. “Why would you? If you now have a nice balance between work and free time, you don’t have to worry about anyone but yourself and you can mindlessly spend the money on a ‘flat white’ instead of a boring pack of diapers.”
“We’ll see who collects your state pension and washes your buttocks when you’re 80. Otherwise, we’ll just get cheap labor from the other side of the world as if they were packages from the Chinese webshop? After all, they have enough people there.”
Think again
How does Antoinette view this? “I then change my mind. You could also say: the more babies are born, the more buttocks will have to be washed in the future. It is also true: I work full-time and therefore I contribute to childcare and maternity leave for everyone who wants children.”
“But you see that women who become mothers and also have a partner, only 3.5 percent of them work full-time. My reasoning is: you can also say that if women become mothers, that is a much bigger problem for our future welfare state, because they all only work part-time and contribute little.”
‘More children!’
Women simply have to work more, according to Antoinette. “It is often said in conservative Christian and right-wing populist circles: ‘Go have more children!’ Also because people have difficulty with migration. I find that very complicated, including what you say in that AD media podcast, like: ‘It makes you a better person.’”
Angela maintains her position: “I think people are selling themselves short if they don’t want children, yes.”
Antoinnette: “No, of course I am not selling myself short and I also think it is quite presumptuous that you pretend that only when you have children that you know that life is not about you.”
‘Not nuanced!’
Angela denies that. “Well, I’m not saying that!”
Antoinnette: “Now you sound nuanced, but if you read your column, it is made of thick wood with planks.”
Angela: “That column was very nuanced!”
Antoinnette: “Oh, come on! If you think that’s nuanced, then you really need to take a little more distance from how you write yourself. It’s also like: ‘You prefer a flat white!’”
Leonie: “Yes, I noticed that too, I must say, Angela.”
Nasty take
Antoinette is disgusted by that. “That’s just a very nasty take, I think. This shows that you think: people who don’t have children are only concerned with themselves.”
“You could say: those people could contribute an enormous amount to society, have much more time to do volunteer work or meaningful work, and can work full-time. As if you were just spending your money on a flat white!”
Angela: “No, that’s not what it says?! It says ‘prefer’. If you don’t feel like having children, that’s fine, right? Choose for yourself, but if you have any doubts: a world will open up for you and it’s really fun.”
Really funny
Why doesn’t Antoinette actually want kids? “I just never wanted it. I don’t like children that much. I know a lot of nice children, yes, but in general: everything that children like, I don’t like. I think children shout loudly, always run fast and talk about things that don’t interest me. They like amusement parks, I don’t like that.”
Angela concludes irritated: “But that is allowed, but mentioning ‘flat white’ is not allowed. I find that really funny.”