Stereotype vs. reality of being a Republican woman
I’m a Republican woman, but I don’t think I’m all that different from other women − Democrats or otherwise.
I love my kids and my dogs. I hate cleaning. I don’t like the current price of meat or eggs. I own a gun, but I don’t brandish it in public. I’ve voted for Donald Trump, but I don’t support the former president anymore. I don’t like what some Republican politicians say, and I do like what others say.
In some ways, I’m a typical Republican woman, even if I don’t look or act like the female Republican politicians I see in Washington, D.C., or my Texas capital of Austin. That’s mostly because there’s an obvious difference between career politicians and average voters as well as a huge difference between the stereotype and the reality of being a Republican woman.
Yet, it’s difficult to converse about these differences when liberals portray Republican beliefs as outdated and oppressive and Republican women as a mess.
Many progressives distort who Republicans are. They not only disagree with Republicans’ beliefs but they also often don’t understand why conservatives believe what we believe, which leads to unfair mischaracterizations and demeaning caricatures.
This is painfully demonstrated in New York magazine’s recent cover story: “How Did Republican Women End Up Like This?”
Am I really less than fully human?
The more than 5,000-word piece cherry-picks a few extreme or eccentric GOP lamakers − Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem − and parlays that into the thesis that we hate the transgender movement, abortion, ourselves and other women. That we’re misogynists leading a charge of misogyny.
“The public performance of Republican womanhood has become fractured, frenzied, and far less coherent than ever,” progressive author Rebecca Traister writes in the piece.
She quotes politicians like Greene and political activists like Laura Loomer, two of the most extreme public-facing conservatives in the United States.
This would be like discussing the Democratic Party by citing only Rep. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Joy Behar of “The View” as examples. Sure, they’re liberals, but do they truly represent millions of liberal women?
The article drips with unmasked disdain, broad labels and snarky commentary about Republican women’s appearance and attire. The author even asserts that between their ill-fitting clothes and pro-life policies, their unsophisticated tastes and concerns about the medical treatment of transgender children, that “women fundamentally cannot lead a party that wants to oppress women; they cannot, in fact, even be fully human within it.”
Am I really less than fully human because I share the same conservative political beliefs as millions of other Americans? The piece provides a window into what many progressives think of conservative beliefs and the condescension they feel toward not just leaders in Washington but also tens of millions of Republican women across the country.
Our democratic republic presents an interesting paradigm: Voters elect leaders who often don’t fully represent them. Does Gov. Noem truly reflect the people of South Dakota? Does Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib fully represent the opinions of people in Michigan or even her district?
In an era of 24/7 social media, politicians on both sides have become much more extreme. The New York magazine column reflects none of that nuance. On social media, the headline for the opinion piece was even more pointed: “Are Republican Women Okay?” I had to laugh. Forget Rep. Mace or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. I looked around at my peer group, checked on some of my conservative friends and family: Are we OK? Let’s see.
Overall, Republicans tend to be healthier, happier, wealthier and more spiritual than Democrats. (If we’re comparing, which New York magazine seems to be.) So by measurable metrics, yes, Republican women are OK. In fact, we might be even great.
Perhaps that explains the lengthy, robust effort to discredit, demonize and bludgeon Republican women as demagogues and deviants rather than respect them as human beings and women.
Politicians vs. real women
The thing about stereotyping and marginalizing is that it makes people easier to dismiss. I could spend my days writing hit pieces about New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s outrageous rants or Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s antisemitic tweets, and then paint the picture that their behavior matches the mindset of hordes of Democratic women. But would that be fair?
Like most Republicans, I disagree with progressive ideas. I have a different value system than progressives. There seems to be two kinds of GOP women: those full of nuance and the caricature that progressives think we are.
“On the cusp of an election season that could further reshape this democracy and women’s place within it, the questions facing the women of the American right are tricky. Are they supposed to be cutthroat or cute? Cold enough to kill a dog or warm enough to bake an apple pie?” Traister writes. “To whom is their devotion chiefly addressed: country, husband, God, or
Trump?”
Imagine reading a bizarre story about Gov. Noem killing her dog and thinking: I knew this is what Republican women have in common! Imagine looking at tens of millions of Republican women from Alaska to Florida − married, single, divorced, widowed; mothers of eight, one or none; working, retired or students − and wondering without a hint of irony: Can these women actually have diverse lifestyles and different life experiences and still hold traditional beliefs? What a concept.
Over and over, progressives look at traditional conservative beliefs, sneer at them with contempt and declare that anyone who holds these values must be stupid, ignorant or misguided. Underlying the commentary in the New York magazine piece about politicians' attire and personalities is derision for the orthodox views that millions of conservative women hold.
Progressives assert that women who share their opinions are liberated and those who hold opposing views are oppressed. Not so. Advocating for policies that keep unborn babies alive is not oppression, nor is supporting policies that protect unhappy children from undergoing life-altering medical treatments.
These positions are not wrong, not oppressive and not even that weird. Like myself, millions of women from all across America hold these and other conservative beliefs.
We deserve respect, not ridicule.