Transcript [00:00] I want to read you this tweet from Tomi [00:01] Lahren, who is a [00:03] well-known conservative pundit on who [00:04] hosts show on Fox News. She tweeted, "I [00:06] know a lot of Republicans don't want to [00:08] hear this, but the right is on the verge [00:10] of making the same mistake with young [00:11] women that the left did with young men. [00:13] I know some of these women are fun to [00:15] mock and I get it and I do too, but we [00:17] have to do better if we're going to [00:18] bring them over to our side. If we are [00:20] totally if we totally alienate young [00:22] women, we will not win elections. We [00:24] have to find a way to appeal to them." [00:25] Now, this is just a personal story, [00:27] Kristen. I had a little interaction with [00:30] a woman that I I I know sort of socially [00:33] a little bit and she came up to me and [00:36] she was basically criticizing me for not [00:38] homeschooling our kids. Now, I have no [00:39] intention of homeschooling our kids. [00:41] I really like the schools they go to. I [00:44] hated school when I was in it. I have no [00:46] desire to home I can't I have no I I [00:50] could not get out of school fast enough [00:51] and my husband has a full-time job. It [00:53] is not possible for my life. That [00:54] doesn't mean other people can't do it. [00:57] I am not a tradwife. I don't want to be [01:00] a tradwife, Kristen. I don't. I don't [01:02] want to bake sourdough bread and live on [01:04] a farm. I'm totally fine with the fact [01:07] that I used to be a party girl in the [01:08] mid-2000s and go to Vegas all the time [01:10] and somehow have a big career before I [01:12] had kids. And I feel like women like me [01:17] are being shamed within the Republican [01:19] Party. And like I said, I'm in a mood [01:20] today to like talk. I I agree with Tomi. [01:24] I think we are having a very serious [01:26] possibility of alienating young women [01:28] who are not tradwives going forward into [01:30] not only but possibly generationally. I [01:33] know this is something you're you're hot [01:35] on too. Do you have any thoughts on on [01:36] this as as a general topic? [01:39] >> Yeah, I I think I'll bring up what one [01:42] of my friends was trying to tell me, [01:44] which is that this this this kind of and [01:46] I'm going to use the term misogyny. I [01:48] think it's been overused a lot over the [01:50] years and as you know, I actually built [01:53] my channel on exposing false Me Too [01:55] cases. So I've actually spent most of my [01:56] time over the last 5 years [01:59] arguing against against victim-oriented [02:02] feminism. So, that's not what I'm [02:03] talking about, but there has been a [02:05] strong movement online and it's it's [02:08] really gotten ginned up during the in [02:10] the aftermath here during and in the [02:12] aftermath of the Lindsay Clancy [02:13] situation. But, as you know, it's been [02:15] going on now for about a year or so. [02:18] There is a strong contingent of [02:20] commentators, influencers, and just [02:23] people on on the right who are posting [02:26] what are just blatantly misogynistic [02:28] things. Women are a bunch of I [02:31] mean, the other day I posted a clip from [02:32] The Handmaid's Tale and in it these two [02:36] women are interacting with a guy at a [02:38] coffee shop and just out of the blue he [02:40] just starts hurling abuse and invective [02:42] at them calling them [02:44] And I feel like as a woman that's often [02:47] what it's like now getting on Twitter [02:48] and trying to debate or have a [02:50] conversation about gender issues or [02:53] Lindsay Clancy or any of these things. [02:55] And there is this loud contingent on the [02:57] right that basically wants to drag out [03:00] some of the worst behavior of the past [03:02] that I thought we had mostly done away [03:04] with in society in terms of encouraging [03:06] of [03:07] of misogyny and and slut-shaming. You [03:10] know, you talked about how you had a [03:11] party phase. I remember that phase. You [03:13] were very sex positive [03:15] and I thought that was a really powerful [03:16] voice for the Republican Party at that [03:18] time which had I thought this [03:19] Puritanical bent rooted in a kind of a [03:23] skewed fundamentalist religiosity that [03:25] really bothered me. And so, I [03:26] appreciated you being a voice for for [03:28] that perspective. And I think that and [03:31] so, my what I was getting at earlier is [03:33] my friend said to me, "Look, this is [03:34] just a phenomenon a small phenomenon of [03:38] a group of loud, crazy, angry guys on [03:41] the internet. This is not how real [03:43] politicians think. This is not how your [03:45] leaders think. There's there's no danger [03:47] that you're going to lose the right to [03:48] vote." And so forth. And here's my [03:50] point. Do I really think that any [03:53] politician is going to is going to get [03:56] the right to vote overturned, the 19th [03:57] overturned? No, I don't. But this [04:00] my issue is that these kinds of [04:02] statements were not things that you [04:03] could say in polite company even a [04:06] couple of years ago that you couldn't [04:08] even really say on Twitter. And I'm not [04:10] talking talking about censorship, but [04:12] I'm just saying these are things that if [04:13] you said some of this stuff that other [04:15] people would call you to account for it [04:17] or would would shun you or would say [04:19] this is not acceptable or no, that's not [04:21] how we feel or no, that's not what the [04:22] Republican Party is about. And I see [04:24] more and more [04:26] semi-mainstream and mainstream [04:28] commentators from the right [04:31] saying things that openly floating the [04:33] idea of well, are women the problem? The [04:35] other day I saw a right I don't want to [04:37] call him out, but a right-wing [04:39] commentator that I had always respected. [04:41] Well, I don't unless you're [04:43] uncomfortable. Yeah, yeah, for us cuz [04:45] I'm not here to attack him, but it's the [04:46] point that and people can believe me or [04:48] not what they want, but it's the point [04:49] that this was a guy that I've done shows [04:51] with before and that I really respected. [04:54] And he posted maybe women are the [04:56] problem. Now, do I think that that [04:58] captures the nuance of his opinions [05:00] about women or do I think that he wants [05:01] to put me under a veil or something or [05:03] have me barefoot pregnant in the home? I [05:05] don't think so, but my point is that [05:07] there has been a shift of the Overton [05:09] window in the way that people on the [05:11] right feel comfortable or even or even [05:14] encouraged to talk about women that I am [05:16] uncomfortable with and I do not think [05:18] that it does like Tommy Lahren, I do not [05:19] think that it does anyone on the right [05:22] any favors in the midterms and I think [05:24] that and I think this kind of [05:25] uber-traditionalism [05:27] you know, I think women I think that [05:28] children probably do have a healthier [05:31] upbringing if you can have a parent [05:32] staying home with them or a grandmother [05:34] or an aunt or whatever. I don't think [05:36] day cares generally are healthy [05:38] environments. In some ways I'm a [05:39] traditionalist, but I also I came from a [05:42] Southern Baptist East Texas family where [05:44] I was regularly taught, "Women submit, [05:47] wives submit to your husbands." And [05:50] where I was told by many people that [05:51] women's place was exclusively in the [05:53] home. And this is something that a lot [05:54] of people thought we were getting away [05:56] from with the Republican Party of the [05:57] sort of a puritanical moralizing to [05:59] people about their lifestyle, much less [06:01] blatant misogyny, calling women [06:04] saying they're stupid. I saw a [06:06] Republican the other day, kind of a [06:08] well-known Republican pundit posting the [06:09] other day about all the things that [06:11] women had ruined. And and no more women [06:14] on the Supreme No women on the Supreme [06:15] Court, no women presidents, and all of [06:17] this. And yeah, it's just invective, [06:19] it's a lot of it's just to get clicks, [06:20] but it's still disturbing to me how the [06:21] Overton window has shifted because of [06:23] what of it what it indicates. And I'll [06:25] say one more thing. [06:26] Movements, social movements, political [06:29] movements, they do have to start [06:31] somewhere. And a lot of things, a lot of [06:33] movements historically that started as [06:35] fringe, you look at the Nazis, and I'm [06:37] not trying to say, "Oh, it's Hitler." [06:38] But I'm just saying that's a that's a [06:40] touchstone a lot of people understand. [06:42] Something can start as a fringe movement [06:44] that's not accepted by the majority, and [06:46] it can still, through a perfect [06:47] confluence of events, it can still take [06:49] hold of a society. And I worry as a [06:51] woman about where all of this is going. [06:54] >> Yeah, and I think the thing that these [06:56] commentators, and I know some of them [06:58] and don't know some of them. And by the [07:00] way, some of the people saying the worst [07:01] stuff about women are women, like on [07:03] social media, like conservative women [07:04] are saying it as well. Um some of the [07:07] things that are that are hard for me [07:09] right now is, again, [07:12] I just want If you want to stay home and [07:14] be a tradwife, go go crazy. I don't [07:16] care. But don't shame women that that's [07:18] not their calling, and that's not what [07:20] they want to do. And I do feel like [07:21] we're in this place where it's like if [07:23] you're just not just having 10 babies [07:26] and being at home that you don't have [07:27] the same sort of like level of respect. [07:29] And then I'm like, "Look at, you know, [07:32] uh [07:32] Condoleezza Rice. Look at all the major [07:34] women in the conservative movement who [07:36] have been really important figures." And [07:38] I think that also the Excuse me. [07:42] Childless cat lady comment that Vice [07:44] President Pence made, which I know he [07:45] has since apologized for and said it was [07:47] like a stupid thing to say, which I I [07:49] believe he believes that. But that [07:52] comment has real cultural staying power. [07:56] I see childless cat lady Christmas [07:58] ornaments, bumper stickers. I saw a [08:00] woman wearing a T-shirt to childless cat [08:02] lady. I don't know, this is probably a [08:04] year ago. Um [08:06] it is something that is I think that is [08:07] really going to Can I say a couple [08:09] >> things about that since you brought it [08:11] up? First of all, one reason why that [08:14] sentiment is is is problematic [08:16] politically and that was a horrible [08:18] mistake of him to make that is because [08:19] everyone knows that cats are amazing. [08:21] And so they just do. I they just do. I [08:24] know we've got a few people who maybe [08:25] have never had a good cat experience and [08:27] you're just waiting to be converted. [08:30] >> [laughter] [08:30] >> There's two kinds of people. There's [08:31] either cat There's cat lovers or there's [08:33] people who are just waiting to be [08:34] converted. But but seriously, it's like [08:37] it it's like you're you're picking [08:39] something that people really actually [08:41] most people like or love and you're [08:43] you're demonizing that. And I know the [08:45] point that he's making is the cats [08:46] aren't as good as a child though, [08:47] dumbass. But evidently, there are a [08:50] significant number of people who have [08:53] doubts about that premise because [08:54] they're choosing to go the cat route and [08:56] not the child route. And so what I want [08:59] is respect for all people's decisions [09:02] with you know, as long as they're moral, [09:04] they're ethical, they're not they're not [09:06] harming other people. But I want respect [09:08] for we're not all cut out of the same [09:10] cloth. And I grew up My mom has no [09:13] problem with me saying this. I grew up [09:14] in the original trad household and my [09:17] mom grew up in the original trad [09:19] household. Her her mother, my [09:20] grandmother, was a was a poor dirt [09:23] farmer in Louisiana. Grew up during the [09:26] Depression and then married and was a [09:27] farmer's wife. [09:29] Um in fact, at one point when she was [09:31] older, she asked her husband if she [09:33] could get her real estate license [09:35] because she wanted to develop some [09:36] interests of herself. She was a very [09:38] smart lady outside of the home and he [09:39] told her no, he wanted his wife to be [09:41] home full-time and so she acquiesced and [09:44] both of them came to regret that [09:45] decision I I might say. My mom also grew [09:49] up a very traditionalist and she was the [09:51] original trad wife in all of the sort of [09:54] the deepest ways in and East Texas [09:56] Southern Baptist wife and that was an [09:58] extremely problematic life for her and [10:01] for us I might say. And so I think that [10:04] there are a lot of people out there who [10:05] have this sort of granola crunchy idea [10:07] of what it means to be a trad wife and [10:09] they don't understand that there is with [10:11] everything there is a dark side and and [10:13] there are upsides and downsides and I [10:15] think that right now there are people on [10:16] the right who are in this kind of [10:18] romanticized thrall to the idea of [10:19] getting back to traditionalism and they [10:22] yes sure there was a lot of great things [10:23] in the past but we're not going back [10:26] there in the way that they want and all [10:27] of this invective online it's just it's [10:30] not it's not helpful to anyone and one [10:32] more thing about the JD Vance comment [10:35] you had Usha Vance on your show, right? [10:36] Or you went on her show? [10:38] That woman [10:39] >> both. [10:39] >> That woman ain't a trad wife. I don't [10:42] know if she's [10:43] >> wildly intelligent, successful [10:45] >> And I don't think she's on [10:47] >> And I don't think she's fully on board [10:48] with her husband and his opinions either [10:50] because she did clap back a little as [10:52] you know in that interview when when he [10:55] when they were talking about his [10:56] Christianity and she said, well I [10:58] basically to paraphrase I grew up in a [11:00] healthy functional household unlike him [11:02] and that's why I didn't feel the need to [11:04] convert to Christianity. [11:05] >> Yeah, I forgot about that. I don't think [11:07] that was my interview I don't think that [11:09] was someone I don't think that was me. [11:11] Yeah. But yeah, well that is a that's [11:13] interesting. I mean that's a really good [11:15] point as well I cuz I think that [11:18] again I'm I'll be 42 in in a month and [11:21] so I'm you know I'm older. [11:23] There's this part where there's like a [11:25] lot of really young commentators in the [11:28] space where I'm like you should respect [11:31] the who helped pave the way for [11:33] you, okay? Cuz there weren't a lot of [11:34] women with mics everywhere. Cuz when I [11:37] came into this industry a thousand years [11:38] ago in the beginning of the Stone Age, I [11:40] mean, I'm sorry, but there the most [11:42] majority of green rooms I go into I was [11:44] the only woman and was up until I [11:46] started working on women's shows cuz it [11:47] was easier. And there's a part of me [11:49] that's like [11:50] you you want us all to be trad wives, [11:52] but you're also benefiting from being [11:54] political commentators as well. And like [11:56] I'm sorry, if you're a full trad wife, [11:57] shouldn't you be out in the garden and [12:00] what I like there's someone producing [12:02] this. I have lighting. Ben's in here [12:03] with me. You're here with me, Kristen. [12:05] And I find like some hypocrisy in it. [12:07] And I do not like the judgment. And I [12:09] don't think there's anything wrong with [12:10] the life choices I've made. And I just [12:12] And the final thing, you're one of my [12:14] friends. We're on [12:16] several different group chats. The [12:17] people that I am drawn to in life, they [12:20] tend to be center-right or right. They [12:22] just I mean, some I have some liberal [12:23] friends, but the women I like truly bond [12:25] with are like they're contrarian, [12:28] they're iconoclasts, and they're [12:29] thinking something totally different. [12:30] It's why I liked you the first the first [12:32] time I met you. Our friends like Jessica [12:33] Krauss, like people who like are told, [12:36] you know, [12:37] whatever. Marilyn Manson did X and [12:38] you're like, I don't think he did. Like [12:40] and you and you make content about it. [12:42] Like I Drea de Matteo is a friend of [12:45] mine and she does OnlyFans. So I'm not [12:47] supposed to be friends with her because [12:49] she does OnlyFans and she can't vote [12:51] Republican because she does OnlyFans. I [12:52] do not accept the premise of any of this [12:55] and it's a great way to lose election.
