Men who play football want women to stay in the kitchen
Imagine you are a young woman who has spent over $100,000 on a college degree. After four years of hard work, you’re finally graduating, with Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker serving as the commencement speaker. The NFL star, who has made millions playing football, kindly tells you in his speech that your hard-earned degree is just a waste of time and that your real role in life is to support your husband. Imagine what that would be like.
Graduates of Benedictine College, a Catholic university in Kansas, don’t need to imagine. Last Saturday, Butker — whose mother happens to be a respected physicist — delivered an incredibly bigoted speech in which he lashed out at everyone from working women to LGBTQ+ people. Everything. If you want to lose some brain cells, you can read the entire article online, but here are the highlights:
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“IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, and the media’s growing support for degenerate cultural values all stem from widespread confusion.” (I know this makes no sense, but the entire speech is incoherent.)
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Women have been subjected to “the most evil lies” and while some women in the audience may go on to have successful careers, most women should be “most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into the world” .
The 4chan post, disguised as a commencement speech, apparently caused an uproar among male students at Benedictine College. According to a TikTok post by Susannah Leisegang, a female graduate in the audience, many men were “excited” by Butker’s comments and “everyone in the room gave a standing ovation” except Leisegang. Oka and about 10 men.
The 28-year-old athlete’s speech not only resonated with the Benedictine man, but also won widespread praise elsewhere, including from Clark Hunter, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunter. This also attracted a lot of criticism. Unsurprisingly, this criticism is turning Butker into a right-wing icon. Since his comments, his jersey sales have increased.
Of course, Bartek can say whatever he wants. But man, it’s so boring to hear a guy who made $4 million playing basketball complain that he’s the victim of some kind of awakening. While Bartek should have the right to express his opinion, it is shocking that he could so easily say something so ignorant in a college commencement speech. As writer Joshua P Hill points out, Valentina Gomez, the woman running as a Republican to be Missouri’s next secretary of state, spoke virtually at Bartek released a brief ad the same day urging Americans not to be “weak and gay.” Hill noted that we are “seeing a rapidly fading consensus that overtly bigoted things cannot be said from any major podium, let alone while running for office.”
It does look like we are going backwards. While bigots have the courage to express their views from university podiums, college students are being arrested for protesting what many experts say is genocide. At the same time, companies are abandoning their DEI initiatives and reducing public support for LGBTQ+ rights due to a right-wing pressure campaign. Target, for example, was criticized by conservatives last year for its Pride Month-related merchandise, and the company just announced it would be cutting back on its Pride Month lineup.
Bartek himself seems to have noticed this paradigm shift. “The road ahead is bright,” the athlete boasted in his speech. “Things are changing. Society is changing. People, young and old, are embracing tradition. By tradition, of course, he means we’re going back to a time when women were forced to have children and LGBTQ+ people didn’t have any rights. Bullies and bigots are winning.
Taylor Swift becomes an icon of female rage
You know who has been quiet during the discussion of Butker’s speech? Taylor Swift. The pop star, who is currently dating the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, is known for being apolitical, but she calls herself a feminist and one might think she might have a problem with Butker’s misogyny Made some remarks. In particular, the footballer quoted Swift (who he charmingly called “my teammate’s girlfriend”) in his speech, referencing Bejeweled, in which she sings that “familiarity breeds contempt.” Considering she just filed for a trademark for “Female Rage: The Musical,” one might also think she’d have something to say. Taylor, instead of using women’s anger as a trademark, why not try to channel it toward the greater good?
Gina Reinhart is learning about the Streisand Effect
A week ago, few outside Australia knew who mining billionaire Gina Rinehart was. Even fewer are familiar with the deeply unflattering portrait of her that hangs in the National Gallery of Australia. Now, however, Reinhardt is making headlines as he lobbies for the portrait to be removed. Suddenly, there is renewed focus on the fact that Rinehart remained silent about her late father’s racist comments about Australia’s Aboriginal people, including calls for the sterilization of those who did not “assimilate”.
Carroll opposes hijab
Karol Markowicz, a columnist for the right-wing New York Post (which constantly complains about cancel culture), recently tweeted about her disapproval of a delivery driver wearing a hijab at Amazon. Angry. In a viral campaign to fire Amazon drivers (for wearing scarves!), Marokovich essentially demanded to speak to managers. It’s because of bigots like Carol that I now feel nervous about wearing my hijab outside.
Nigerian activists condemn mass ‘forced marriage’ of 100 girls and young women
Nigeria’s women’s affairs minister is seeking a court injunction to stop the planned ceremony and to determine whether any of the girls are minors.
French celebrities call for legislation to combat sexism and sexual violence
In a petition published by Le Monde newspaper, more than 140 public figures said France was “grossly” behind in dealing with gender discrimination and sexual abuse. “The dismissal rate for sexual violence complaints in 2022 is an unacceptable 94%,” the petition states.
tradwifes are making extremely weird bread
I know, there’s a lot of tradwife content out there, but it’s really food for thought.
Former teen model accuses magician David Copperfield of inappropriate behavior
He may be a magician, but it would be difficult for Copperfield, who had ties to Jeffrey Epstein, to make the accusations go away.
A week for the patriarchy
Congratulations to Max, a tabby cat who just received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Vermont State University. Max lives near campus and has been involved with the college crowd for many years and enjoys traveling with prospective students. Hopefully no one asks Max what he thinks about the genocide in Gaza (where animals also starve to death), or he might be stripped of his degree.
