Any male criticism of Taylor Swift must be an expression of misogynistic hypermasculinity. At least that’s the conclusion of Washington Post gender columnist Monica Hesse’s Sept. 28 editorial about the recently reported romance between Swift and tight end Travis Kelce.
Hesse quotes random representatives of the “super alpha fragilism fringe of the football team” to support her claim, and for good measure she cites a recent Federalist piece by Mark Hemingway about Swift’s music. Hesse, who for some reason refuses to mention Hemingway by name, grossly misrepresents his argument by (falsely) claiming that Hemingway’s complaint was only about Swift talking about breakups, heartbreaks, and “how things made her feel.” write and that his criticism is little more than the stereotypical patriarchal double standards forced upon women.
It’s not uncommon for Hesse to wag his finger at male criticism of female celebrities. Whether we’re talking about the struggling U.S. women’s soccer team, obese musicians, or self-obsessed actresses, there’s inevitably a chorus that quickly rises up to defend them and accuse their critics of sexism and misogyny. But this reality reveals a delicious irony of the women’s rights movement since its inception: the fragility of the feminist ego.
The double standards often go the other way
Megan Rapinoe forced the U.S. women’s soccer team’s exit from the 2023 World Cup in August when she missed a penalty kick in the team’s round of 16 game against Sweden. Afterwards, midfielder Lindsey Horan said she was “proud of every player who took the penalty shootout today” and that it was “courageous to take a penalty.” First Lady Jill Biden, in turn, told the women’s team that they had “inspired girls everywhere to show up and fight for their dreams.” As the American Conservative’s John Hirschauer noted, “That’s the kind of thing you say to a kid, not a professional athlete.”
Of course, women’s football is not unique among professional women’s sports. Simone Biles was named Time Magazine’s 2021 Female Athlete of the Year for not taking part in the Tokyo Olympics. Naomi Osaka was praised that same year for withdrawing from the French Open to ease her fears and “put her well-being first.” Meanwhile, WNBA advocates vacillate between delighting in increased public interest in women’s basketball and complaining that the sports industry isn’t giving them enough coverage. (The truth is that 12 million people watched the 2022 NBA Finals; the WNBA Championship brought in less than half a million).
There are many examples outside of sports. Until Lizzo was (ironically) accused of “weight shaming” and sexual harassment, many of her defenders were considered a symbol of the fat acceptance movement. When their work is questioned, “strong” journalists like Felicia Sonmez or Taylor Lorenz immediately play the harassment card — usually citing harmless, anonymous, obnoxious social media users — and claim they suffer from PTSD.
Feminists want women to be treated like men, except when they don’t
Since Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1792 book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the demand for equal treatment has been a constant rallying cry. “We must view men and women as equal partners,” declared 20th-century feminist writer Betty Friedan. “Women will have true equality only when men share with them the responsibility of raising the next generation,” argued Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
But do feminists really want equality? Feminists demand that female athletes be celebrated as amazing, unparalleled superstars, whether they win or lose. Proponents of gender equality in sports do not want fair market competition based on customer preferences, but rather want to bully and force the sports industry to devote as much airtime to indifferent viewers as men’s sports. Male football fans who don’t like women’s football are sexist – this was the conclusion of a 2021 study by the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. Hence the demand that “change starts with more media coverage,” according to attendees at SportsPro’s 2022 OTT Summit USA.
When male athletes make big mistakes, they are endlessly ridiculed – ever heard of Bill Buckner, Garo Yepremian or Scott Norwood? Instead, Rapinoe, Biles, and Osaka are celebrated even more for their lack of achievement, as if failure itself was a feminist victory. As Hirschauer notes, feminists live in an “alternative universe” of professional athletics: Rapinoe once claimed that WNBA point guard Sue Bird—who averaged 7.8 points per game in her career—“arguably had the best career ever no one in the world has ever done.” History of all sports in general.”
A controversy that proves the point
I once worked in a building where a large sign reading “Ten Ways to Empower Women in the Workplace” was prominently displayed right outside the cafeteria, so that hundreds of employees saw it every day. Some of the suggestions amounted to little more than simply being respectful and professional towards women (that doesn’t hurt!). But others (e.g., encouraging women to “be themselves” or empowering them to “speak up”) implicitly communicated the need for men to show respect toward members of the opposite sex as if male Employees would have to treat their colleagues with kid gloves just in case you hurt their feelings or damage their self-confidence.
This sign itself was symbolic of a now unspoken assumption: women must be recognized as equals to men, except that they require special treatment that recognizes and respects their inherent differences from men. Women are just as resilient as men, unless they need special support. They are just as fearless and strong as men, except that they are significantly underrepresented in the most dangerous and physically demanding jobs. They have the same career flexibility as men, except when they are pregnant or breastfeeding.
My point is not that women cannot achieve great professional success, demonstrate remarkable resilience, or demonstrate tremendous courage. Of course they have done and are doing all of these things. Nor does it mean that female workers should not be given paid parental leave, nursing rooms, and other benefits to reflect their role as mothers (they should be). But the louder feminists claim that they want equal treatment in all things – even where their biological, psychological and emotional differences are most obvious – the more ridiculous the argument becomes.
Hesse’s smears of male Swift critics (though he apparently has been slagging Kelce for years for being overrated, thereby undermining her double standards thesis) prove the point. Furthermore, the fact that there is a feminist female gender columnist at the Washington Post and no male equivalent also seems like a contemporary counterpoint, doesn’t it?
Casey Chalk is a senior staff writer at The Federalist and an editor and columnist at The New Oxford Review. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in theology from Christendom College. He is the author of The Persecuted: True Stories of Courageous Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands.
Comments are closed.