Content note: This video discusses why women particularly cishet white women
join conservative movements and therefore talks about their beliefs. These include transphobia,
homophobia, racism, and misogyny. Please proceed with caution.
Angela: We can make a difference here. Dwight: I will make a difference here.
Angela: You alone? I thought together. Dwight: Oh please don't be naive.
Dwight: You can be in charge of the women.
*soft piano music plays* - music is in the description -
So I always think of this scene from The Office when I think about why women particularly cishet
white women join fascist movements and more specifically the alt-right here in the U.S. In
the episode Dwight is promised to become manager but he only went for it because of Angela, so Angela
thinks Dwight will reward her with an equally powerful position. Then Dwight of course shoots
her down, but also throws her a bone which she happily eats up, and of course she says goodbye
Kelly Kapoor, as Kelly is the only woman of color working in the office. However
this line was cut from the series for some reason a few years ago as documented on Reddit.
But anyway women like the uptight Conservative Christian Angela joined fascist or right-wing
politics because of various motivating factors which I'm going to delve into in this video. And
before we begin this video takes heavily from counterpoints AKA Natalie Wynn's video The Witch
Trials of JK Rowling and Andrea Dworkin's 1983 book Right-wing Women. If you haven't checked
either of these out yet I suggest you do so. You should also follow and support trans creators
like Jessie Gender who talks about sci-fi works as well as lgbtq+ politics, Kat Blaque who
discusses pop culture as well as trans issues and race and Aranok, who streams games as well
as makes video essays from a non-binary trans perspective. I'd also like to shout out Soulbunni
who's a trans creator and makes leftist video essays on YouTube and who's also an artist.
Lastly please note that this video is just my thoughts and opinions there is no one reason
why women join the alt-right as why people join hate groups is largely emotion based
not logic or fact-based, so without further ado let's go - why do women join the alt-right?
Before we talk about the motivating factors of why cishet white women uphold conservative ideology
we need to understand what right-wing politics offer women because from an outsider's perspective
it seems pretty ridiculous that women would vote conservatively as the Republican Party seems to
stand on a platform that directly goes against women's best interests. They're against abortion
they shame women for being [ __ ] and [ __ ], they deny women financial and bodily autonomy, and they
create very strict definitions of what a woman can be in society and what a woman can be biologically.
A woman to conservatives are biological human females, they exist to solely care for the home and
the children to be moral compasses of society and to serve their husbands. But these are the exact
reasons why the right appeals to some women, again mainly cishet white women, so much. As Dworkin
states in her book, the Right offers women form, shelter, safety, rules, and love. It gives women a
purpose a sense of self in a society where women live in a world of contradictions. "Women experience
the world as mystery. Kept ignorant of technology, economics, most of the practical skills required
to function autonomously, the right offers women a simple fixed predetermined social biological and
sexual order. Form conquers chaos. Form banishes confusion. Form gives ignorance a shape makes
it look like something instead of nothing." The right also validates women's fears but then they
manipulate the fear. "The promise is that if a woman is obedient harm will not befall her." Additionally
the right claims to protect the home and the woman's place in it. And lastly "the right very
considerately tells women the rules of the game on which their lives depend. The right also promises
that despite their absolute sovereignty men too will follow specified rules." Liberal politics say
women can be anything they want to be and to some that's freeing and to others that's scary
since if you choose to be anything other than a wife and mother you're villainized and even
when you choose to be those things you're still harassed and mistreated, but for some women they
choose to be a wife and mother because in the end that's still the safest option. A larger reason why
cishet white women are turned off by feminist gender idea biology is because it forces them
to look in the mirror and question their identity. "If a woman can be anything what does that make me?"
The liberal definition of a woman is off-putting for these women because they enjoy being victims,
if they embrace the left and work to change their status they can no longer be victims. White
cishet conservative women based their own oppression off of their belief in biological sex and strict
gender boxes, if we break those then they have nothing. For how much the right loves saying that
the left of revels and victimizing themselves white conservatives has had women love it even
more. Not to mention the white cishet women who pretend to still be in the center, but we'll get
to them later. These types of women occupy a fascinating space in society in which they are
both simultaneously victimizing themselves and also victimizing others as they are given power
under patriarchy even if the power isn't equal. These women can't find solace in Liberal politics
because if they do then they can't continue to be coddled white women, they can't continue
to romanticize the past and talk about how traditional home life and femininity was stolen
from them by nasty feminists. If they were to join the left they'd have to own up to their privilege
just like the white nerds in my other video, but they can't bring themselves to do so because then
they'd give up the few privileges already afforded to them. They don't want to relinquish the little
power they have so they keep right where their white Womanhood is weaponized against actual
marginalized people and unsurprisingly enough these cishet white women are totally okay with
that. It's why Angeles smirks when she can be in charge of the women, they're okay with being
subjugated by the patriarchy as long as they get to subjugate others. So the right not only offers
a clear answer as to what a woman is which is especially important for white women who don't
have an identity outside of their femaleness, but the right also offers them a chance to have power
over others which the left doesn't offer. To them, Liberal politics look weak. The Liberals are always
playing defense whereas the right looks as if they're always winning with quippy one-liners
and talking points. See the alt-right playbook for more info. The right also claims to be defending
the family, moral values and of course the children, the domains cishet white conservative women Lord
over. Because the right says they care so much about the home, it's easier for women to insert
themselves in the rights narrative than in leftist politics. As Dworkin writes "right-wing women know
that they are valued for their sex, their sex organs, and their reproductive capacity, and so
they try to up their value through cooperation, manipulation, conformity, through displays of
affection or attempts at friendship, through submission and obedience, and especially through
the use of euphemism, femininity, Total Woman, good, maternal Instinct, motherly love." This also helps
the right appear more woman friendly as women are given a bloated sense of power over the domestic.
But in reality that power is only given to them by men. Not to mention basing a woman's power on
their biology jeopardizes them further, even cishet white women because not all of them will be
able to live up to these patriarchal expectations. Uplifting biological sex only creates a narrower
box for women, but again it does offer rules which some women are desperate for. In the end
the left doesn't offer a clear answer on what a white woman's identity is outside of the cishet
patriarchy and that's scary for them, so they take the path of least resistance and stick to the
status quo. And it's important to note that even though all women have internalized patriarchy
to a degree women also have autonomy to make their own choices. Women who join in on fascist movements
know exactly what they're doing and they do it because they're at the top of the woman hierarchy
and want to stay there. They don't just decide to uphold the system that's hurting them because
they don't know better but rather it's the safest option for them as they have the most to gain from
right-wing politics compared to marginalized women. Sure they still lose a lot of their autonomy, but
they would never admit that because it would mean admitting that they're also part of the problem.
*soft piano music plays* - music in description -
So in the last section we established what the right offers has hit women and why that's so
enticing to them. Right-wing politics give them an out, a way to never have to confront their
privileges as long as they're okay with remaining unequal to men, but they're again okay with that
because they get to sit atop the female hierarchy. They get to define womanhood and in theory get to
control the domestic sphere, the home, the family and those God forsaken children. Though in reality
that's far from the truth. It may seem hypocritical for white cishet women to both claim victimhood
in the patriarchy but also want to be a part of it and that's because it is. But a lot of these
women don't claim they're being victimized by the right but rather by the left and this
is where you don't just have right-wing women claiming that their rights and identities are
being taken away by feminists but also white cishet center and liberal woman chanting the same
thing. So for this to make sense we have to go back in time to 2016 and talk about the [ __ ]
hats. 2016 was an important moment in fourth wave feminism because that's when the rapist in chief
was elected. Crowds of angry women took through the streets and one line in particular that
Trump said that a lot of women took issue with was "grab them by the [ __ ]" and feminists decided to
embrace the [ __ ] part of this line and wear [ __ ] hats or pink hats with cat ears on them
in order to try to turn the whole thing on its head. And though this was a widespread fashion
statement a lot of leftist feminists took issue with it because not all women have vaginas so
embracing the [ __ ] could be seen as a little off-putting. And this is when the inclusion of
trans women and trans men and non-binary people started to become a wedge issue in
feminist politics, though of course the inclusion of lgbtq+ people in feminism has always been
a contentious issue specifically of course with white cishet women. But nowadays trans people are
to be included and protected in modern feminism but a lot of cishet white women back in 2016 who
aligned themselves with the feminist movement didn't like this and that's because like we've
stated in the previous section conservative women find victimhood in their specific cishet white
Womanhood, which is fine as cishet white women also face patriarchal oppression, but also like
I mentioned in the last section, these conservative women don't want to expand the definition of woman
because it means that their identity becomes more complicated. They also feel threatened by
other definitions of Womanhood because they feel it makes them replaceable kind of like how in my
fembot video I talked about how the discrimination against fembots by human women mimic real life
transphobic remarks by cis women to trans women. "You're not a real woman, you're not even human." "If
men can transition into women then where does that leave me?" As cishet white conservative women
base not only their victimhood on their gender but also their power, the only thing that they
can do alone, bare children. Right-wing women as Dworkin states know that the little power they
do have is in their sexual reproductive organs and they use that as a bargaining chip to gain
more power and to withhold power from others. They specifically discriminate against trans
women because if they lose their biological power they have nothing to offer the right
and then they risk becoming disposable. Post 2016 a lot of women became radicalized once trans men
and women started becoming accepted more in the feminist movement and leftist spaces because some
cishet white women truly believe this idea that the only reason they're both subjugated and also
important in society is because of their sexual organs so therefore only they can be considered
"real women", and ironically enough these women still see themselves as feminists, they just
exclude trans people. They call themselves trans exclusionary radical feminists or terfs who claim
to just have some concerns, they just want cishet women to be able to speak, some of their events
are even called let women speak. They believe that trans people aren't the genders they
identify as and also claim that they're sexually deviants and mentally ill. These women also harm
their own children by denying them life-saving gender affirming care. In all, terfs are just
right-wing women in Liberal sheep's clothing. They claim they just have some concerns but
in reality they want to eliminate trans people from existing and live in a world where cishet
white women like themselves get to stay atop the patriarchal pyramid. They're not feminists
not even close but they use this label to still be taken seriously and to cover up their true nature.
You can't be a feminist and not support trans people. And nowadays the terfs barely hide their
affiliation with Neo-Nazi groups, they pat fellow Nazis on the back and protect them because it's
"free speech". They truly are feminazis. It's honestly vile and though this seems like
a fringe movement it's sadly not. Fascism has exploded in the past decade around the world
and transphobia and homophobia has of course grown alongside it. It's no surprise that the
books the Nazis burned first had to do with gender and sexuality. There are hundreds of anti-trans
bills today being passed in various States, bills that include clauses where the state can take away
children from gender affirming parents, bills that make it illegal to medically transition,
etc. And the biggest transphobe of them all Ron DeSantis is running for president next
term. We went from the first president to say the word transgender to now having an out and proud
transphobe run for the highest office in the land. But in 13 short years the right mobilized
themselves to do what they've always dreamed of, turns out saying the quiet part out loud worked
on men and women. And in the end the worst part is this isn't even really about trans people, like
it's about trans people because the right hates them, but the larger goal of all this is just
to get more votes. The conservative party is just using trans issues to get more and more people on
board with their larger fascist movement. They use trans issues in order to move center men and women
right and then these people still think they're in the center because the right has packaged all this
as just debate as valid concerns, as just looking out for the children, and not enough people can see
through this facade because the right frames their concerns as a question of morality and
no one wants to be called a bad person so, they throw a logic out the window in favor of emotion.
*soft piano music plays* - music in description -
This isn't the first time white cishet women felt victimized by liberal and leftist politics. For
example Anita Bryant throughout her life claimed that gay men as well as lesbians were a threat to
women and children and the sanctity of the family. In Natalie Wynn's video she claims that some cis-het
women feel threatened by gay men because gay men don't need women and therefore cishet women fear
them. And like I stated before the same fear is projected onto trans people and more specifically
trans women. If trans women are women then they believe as cis women they will become obsolete.
Another reason Wynn states as to why right-wing women can't disavow the political structure that
binds them is because they can't bring themselves to admit that the men in their lives are shitty
or even have privilege. It's extremely painful for them to conceive that their father, son or
husband sees them and treats them as less than or even has more political power than them. So
they turn their backs on liberal ideology that would make them see men in a more complicated
light. As Dworkin states the right gives women a place to put their anger other than on men.
The men create foreign enemies to take the bullet. "Women take the rage and contempt they feel for
men who actually abuse them those close to them and projected onto others those far away, foreign
or different. Because women so displace their rage they are easily controlled and manipulated haters,
having good reason to hate but not the courage to rebel, women require symbols of danger
that justify their fear. The right provides these symbols of danger by designating clearly defined
groups of Outsiders as sources of danger." The right weaponizes women's anger by giving them
enemies to hate and not only that, but puts them in charge of other women and marginalized people.
Women cling to the pyramid they sit on because they get to wield some power. It's the quickest
and easiest way in theory to at least feel like they're in control. They get to be openly racist,
classist, and homophobic and transphobic. They get to indulge in the power that cishet
white men enjoy. They're happy to be used as concerned mothers when it's time to demonize
the lgbtq+ community as long as it means that they don't get treated like them. They're
fine with being used to kill and imprison Black men women, better them than us right?
*soft piano music plays* - music in description -
There are marginalized women who uphold right-wing politics because financially it's
lucrative. Even if they don't believe what they're saying and are subjected to abuse, they have the
same mindset as the cishet white women, if I'm one of the good ones I'll be rewarded and it's
better them than me. Lauren Chen, Candace Owens and Blair White are all marginalized women who simp
for alt-right politics because they want money. They know exactly what they're doing and have
made a career out of it. Recently Candace Owens was attacked by her own fan base for calling out
a cishet white alt-right personality because she rightfully stated that it's bad to abuse
your wife, she should have defended spousal abuse you see. Even the grifters aren't protected, just
like how at the end of the day cishet white women won't be protected either, but they simply
don't care. It's honestly sad to see people die on these hills, to be so deep in the hole that
you just have to continue to dig because it's too late to backpedal, some people I don't even
think still believe in what they're saying, but now have no choice but to remain bigoted
because they're embarrassed and it would be almost impossible to rebuild their
image, so now whether they believe what they're saying or not they just have to stick to the
script until the end of their days. It's sad but that's their own fault. What we need to focus on
now is fighting back against these people who have already chosen to go down the wrong path
we have to protect the lgbtq+ community who are especially vulnerable at this time and just
show up and not let bigots slide because they are family or friends, make this a wedge issue
in your own life, and don't waste time trying to change people's minds. Use that time instead
to listen and educate yourself and stand up for people being persecuted right now.
So that's it. Thank you so much for watching. Let me know what you think about this video
and why women join the alt-right in the comments down below and I'll see you in the next one bye.
*soft piano music plays* - music in description -