• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide

  • ABOUT US
  • MEMBERS
    • MEMBER ACCESS (must be logged in)
  • SERVICES
  • RESOURCES
  • AWARDS
  • NEWS
  • JOIN
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT US
  • MEMBERS
    • MEMBER ACCESS (must be logged in)
  • SERVICES
  • RESOURCES
  • AWARDS
  • NEWS
  • JOIN
  • DONATE
You are here: Home / Protected: Articles and Advice / Protected: Commentaries / Spoused!

Spoused!

Spouse (pronounced spous, spouz).

Noun: spouse

Middle English, from Old French spous, from Latin sponsus, from past participle of spondre, to pledge.

1.) A man or woman engaged or joined in wedlock; a married person, husband or wife.

2.) The unpaid half of a Foreign Service partnership, e.g. John Q. Nebbish, Foreign Service Officer (FSO), and spouse, Jane Nebbish.

3.) Eligible Family Member. Despite eligibility, many programs are offered to spouses on a space-available basis.

Verb: to spouse, spousing, spoused

1.) To assume that the spouse of an FSO is available to perform tasks associated with Embassy functions on a volunteer basis.

Example: “The Congressman is bringing his wife along, so let’s spouse Jane Nebbish to take her shopping for Oriental carpets on Tuesday.”

2.) To assume that the spouse of an FSO will attend (or host) official functions though she is not, in fact, employed by the U.S. Embassy.

Example: “The Ambassador and Mrs. Ambassador request the presence of Mr. John Nebbish, and spouse Jane Nebbish, to attend a stuffy reception including several lengthy speeches that Mrs. Nebbish will not understand at all, space having been unavailable for her during language training. Painful shoes required.”

3.) To request unpaid labor from the spouse of an FSO with the implicit or explicit effect of having an impact on his career.

Example: “As the world’s richest and most powerful democracy, we nevertheless lack resources to decorate for the official Fourth of July reception. So, we’ll spouse some Embassy wives into doing it by sending a ‘request’ from the Front Office via a memo to their husbands.”

3.) To pay for labor at substantially less than U.S. market rates because the spouse of an FSO will occupy the position.

Example: “The Spouse Employment Committee recently spoused Jane Nebbish for the position of Political Section Secretary at $10 per hour (We would just as soon have hired a local for even less money, but they don’t have the security clearance.)”

5.) To assume that the spouse of an FSO has no financial need for employment, and based on that assumption, ask her to volunteer, or to work at a substantial discount.

Example: “We can save money by spousing Jane Nebbish for this teaching position because her husband will be working for the Embassy, and she must be looking for work just to stay busy during his tour. Therefore, we can consider her to be a local hire, along with the clerical and janitorial staff.”

6.) To assume that the spouse of an FSO, though professionally qualified in one field, will be amenable to working in another totally unrelated or less skilled field.

Example: “Jane Nebbish said something to me at that reception last night about being a freelance journalist, so she must type pretty well. Surely she’d be willing to fill the secretarial slot in the DCM’s office for a while. She gave me her business card; why don’t you ring her up and spouse her?”

7.) To reject an applicant for a position based on the fact that he or she is the spouse of an FSO and will be transferring out of country in less than four years. Does not apply to officers.

Example: “Jane Nebbish is clearly the most qualified applicant for this position, and her desired salary is competitive, but we’ll have to spouse her, as it would make more sense to hire this local contractor who will be here permanently.”

Adjective: Spoused.

To have been the object of spousing.

Example: Ask any Eligible Family Member (:

Definition compiled by Kelly Bembry Midura and her writerly companions.

Kelly Bembry Midura is a Foreign Service spouse and Content Manager of AAFSW.  She blogs at wellthatwasdifferent.com.

Footer

CONNECT WITH US

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide
4001 North Ninth Street, Suite 214
Arlington, VA, 22203
703-820-5420

Our Vision Statement

AAFSW will continue to be a catalyst for beneficial change through advocacy and support for our Foreign Affairs Community. By providing resources, services and engaging programs through our effective network, we promote the goals and serve the needs of Foreign Service and Civil Service employees, spouses, partners, members of household and retirees.

Follow

My Tweets

Copyright © 2022 · Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide · Connecting the U.S. Foreign Affairs Community at Home and Abroad

AAFSW uses cookies to optimize your experience, analyze traffic, and personalize content. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of cookies on our site.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT