Three ugly words have wormed their way through campus, into Saturday-night conversations, laughter in the hallways, and serious discussions: “Repeal the 19th.”
The phrase refers to the 19th Amendment, which extended the right to vote to women. The argument goes: Some woman somewhere (whether in my personal life or U.S. political history) has done something I don’t like. Thus, we should take away the right to vote from all women everywhere.
It’s a classic example of something we all tried in middle school: Saying something once for a shock effect and laughter, then repeating it ad nauseum. If that’s the type of tired, juvenile social credit you’re after — go for it. The rest of us have graduated eighth grade and are more interested in being engaging, good-willed, genuinely funny adults.
Even before November’s election, the vibe shift was palpable. The tides of the culture war were turning in favor of MAGA and Trumpian conservatism, after long years of boorish wokeism and humorless late-night TV.
But now that conservatism is gaining traction in the culture, we must take care not to become the ugly, unfunny bullies the progressive left so often is. Not all “free speech” is equal. As adults, we ought to know the difference between a joke that’s playfully transgressive and an attempt at a joke that’s instead disgusting, mean, or immature.
“Repeal the 19th” is mild compared to the worse humor people on the right have attempted — which is perhaps why so many feel they can use it. But that doesn’t detract from how terrible people sound saying it.
At the very least, it’s a sign they lack creativity, trotting out a phrase that’s been tried a thousand times instead of an original joke. Try harder. Women love funny men, not ones that serve up warmed-over far-right podcast clips.
Nor is gentlemanliness now weakness. The toxic “compassion” woke activists preached as an excuse for the worst violations of human dignity — euthanasia, genital mutilation, and abortion, to name a few — gave kindness a bad name. But people of faith ought to remember the radical charity preached by the paragon of strength and consider giving each other’s failings the benefit of the doubt.
A boy lashes out against all women everywhere when one member of their sex hurts or offends him. A man holds his tongue and defends the women in his life. Recall the way your male role models treat women. Rather than perpetuating the gender wars eighth-grade-style, they act in a way that unites the sexes.
Those who more seriously argue to “Repeal the 19th” often trace abortion rights and radical feminism to women gaining the right to vote. That’s a weak and historically illiterate cop-out about as convincing as Adam blaming Eve in the Garden. Men and women are prone to different types of selfishness and weakness, both of which contributed to our cultural sins. For better or for worse, we form each other. Instead of arguing about misogynistic hypotheticals, spend your time discussing how to build a culture in which men and women flourish together.
And next time you consider demeaning the virtue and intelligence of the female sex in so juvenile a way, consider whether you would say that to your mother or grandmother’s face. If you cannot feel compelled to act a gentleman around your female peers, at least consider whether you would like to restrict the political freedoms of the women who sacrificed to raise you.
Caroline Kurt is a junior studying English.
