Right Wing Media to Liberal Women: Get Back in the Kitchen
By Jaden Satenstein, November 28, 2022
Ladies, Jesse Watters has a simple request for you: get married.
The Fox News host is obsessed with your marital status, and it’s all because of exit polls revealing a massive divide in the voting preferences of married versus unmarried women.
“Single women and voters under 40 have been captured by Democrats,” Watters said on his show, “Jesse Watters Primetime,” the day after the midterm election.
The segment cites a CNN exit poll in which 68% of unmarried women responded that they voted for a Democratic house candidate. In contrast, only 31% of married women voted for Democrats – a 37-point gap.
“So we need these ladies to get married,” he continued. “And it’s time to fall in love and just settle down. Guys, go put a ring on it.”
The absurd clip gained traction on Twitter, with numerous popular posts slamming Watter’s casual misogyny. Writer and podcaster Molly Jong-Fast even shared an article about the segment to her more than one million Twitter followers, calling it, “one of the more sexist things I’ve ever heard.”
You Need a Man, Preferably a Republican
Still, Watters isn’t alone in his extreme stance on single women. TheRighting.com’s curated list of headlines from right-wing media reveals that conservative outlets have selected single women as their scapegoat of choice. And they have some fascinating ideas on how to get women coupled up and conservative.
For example, The Federalist published a piece by Christian Winter entitled, “How Conservative Men Can Help Solve The GOP’s Single Women Problem,” because taking advice from a man who uses the phrase “women problem” seems like a true recipe for success.
Winter argues that, “Single women who lack the protection and security that a husband or father provides are likely to look elsewhere, such as to government, for the securing of their interests.”
He suggests that conservative men should embrace their “manliness” and celebrate women’s “good girl” nature in order to “reemphasize the natural order of a society of masculine men and feminine women.” With these traditional gender roles in place, Winter believes America’s bachelorettes will finally do what he says is “good for women”: marry. Oh, and vote Republican.
The Federalist is pushing the narrative that single women have a man-sized void in their lives, with the outlet’s executive editor, Joy Pullmann, writing that, “a woman cast alone into a cold world seeks security in government when she can’t find it in a real-life community.”
In her article, “How to Eliminate Dems’ Single Women Electoral Advantage,” Pullmann argues that many of the “stupid, wasteful, and demeaning” government jobs that she and fellow Republicans see as “administrative bloat” are filled by women. By eliminating these “bureaucracy-descended make-work jobs,” Pullmann says that single women will be forced back into domesticity, where they’ll be “a lot happier doing something more productive for society.” It’s a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone way to achieve two major conservative goals: shrink the government, and get women back into the kitchen.
The Daily Caller is also calling for a mass return to traditional gender roles, writing that “Toxic Femininity Is Costing Republicans Elections” and that the only way to win back the female vote is to “embrace traditional womanhood” and “reject toxic feminism.” The article calls on conservative women to take inspiration from Phyllis Schlafly, the anti-feminist leader who led the charge against the Equal Right Amendment in the 1970’s, and help their fellow women see the light.
Far Right Females Betray Their Sisters
Right-wing media seems to think that the key to winning over single women is to double down on the sexist agenda that drove many of them away from the party in the first place. But how can the same outlets that want women back in their homes also shower right-wing female candidates with so much praise? From Kari Lake, to Marjorie Taylor Greene, to Lauren Boebert, far-right media can’t get enough of female right-wing politicians, even though they’ve spent far more time on the campaign trail than in the kitchen.
Wouldn’t these women’s rise in the GOP seem to contradict the ideals of “traditional womanhood” and signal that the party may be more inclusive than it appears?
The reality, however, is that this female representation on the right is all a facade. Republicans point to these politicians to defend against accusations of sexism, but inclusion means nothing when it only includes women who use their newfound power to bolster the very systems of oppression they claim no longer exist.
From attacking reproductive rights to campaigning alongside former President Donald Trump, these female politicians have proved to the GOP that they are not a threat to the status quo. Rather than taking a hard look at how their policies are landing with single female voters after a shockingly poor performance in the midterms, the right is simply pushing women further and further to the left.
Jaden Satenstein (@jadensat) is a writer, producer and social media consultant. She has worked for WNYC, FRONTLINE PBS, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Straus News Manhattan.
Interested in more news about right-wing websites curated especially for mainstream audiences? Subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
Some conservative outlets argue that toxic femininity is costing Republican elections. Furthermore, they assert that the only way to win back the female vote is to embrace traditional womanhood. (Image: Pixabay)
