OPINION:
Much has been written about the comportment of the congressional Democrats at President Trump’s recent address to a joint session of Congress. Their failure to applaud even the most noncontroversial statements by the president, their flashing of little signs with an assortment of platitudes and their general sullenness have left a poor impression of the Democratic Party and its leadership.
Democrats no doubt made a tactical error with their shenanigans. Reaction to the speech indicates that most Americans found the congressional Democrats’ behavior unsavory and distasteful. The continuous disruptions of the president’s speech and the childish pranks were not pleasing to the average American.
The disdain showered on Democrats generally, however, fails to focus adequately on the most active members of the prankish members of Congress: the congressional women.
Anyone watching the president’s speech could not help but notice that the principal actors in the fiasco were women. Many of the Democratic women wore pink outfits to stand out as protesters. It was predominantly, although not exclusively, women who carried the paddle signs with their odd messages. Except for Rep. Al Green, who made himself especially obnoxious with his disruptive behavior, the evident show of disrespect for Mr. Trump predominated among the Democratic women of Congress in the House chamber.
Something was especially demeaning about the feminine spectacle to which all of America was witness. It was infantile. It was disrespectful to the presidency and the role of Congress. Most of all, it undermined the very goals to which American women have aspired over the past three-quarters of a century.
By coalescing as a group of disrupters and doing so in a color-coordinated, seemingly concerted and unpleasant manner, the Democratic women who carried out this protest set themselves apart from other members of Congress based on gender. They elected to place their identity as women above their positions as elected members of the deliberative bodies of which they serve as members, and they did so in a manner that made them into caricatures rather than serious legislators.
They also appeared to be hypocrites. Many of those who seemed so intent on highlighting their gender had just voted against legislation to keep males out of female locker rooms. They have promoted the wokest agenda with an obsession to eliminate protections for women, including those that undermine opportunities for girls in sports and ultimately throughout society.
Every stereotype of women as emotionally overwrought and incapable of thoughtful reflection was highlighted. Scowls and jeers, which might have been entirely appropriate in the British House of Commons, seemed strikingly out of place in the U.S. Capitol. They emphasized a disconnect between Americans’ perceptions of their national legislature and the behavior of a group of legislators.
The childish antics of the Democratic women seem to echo other feminine activities in the public arena. These activities appear to be equally contrary to the best interests of women generally.
Pro-Hamas and pro-Islamist demonstrations since Oct. 7, 2023, have been dominated by women. Invariably the preponderance of those cheering the Hamas killers and rapists have been women. Anyone having observed recent campus protests cannot but take note of the overwhelming and frankly disconcerting presence of women, many sporting keffiyehs and other Islamist paraphernalia.
The irony of the rapidly developing phenomenon of women becoming actors in disrupting traditional politics and social values more generally, to their detriment, cannot be shunted aside. Whether it was the refusal of women in the halls of Congress to support women in sports and even sympathize with children suffering from cancer or women on college campuses supporting an ideology that would relegate them to subordinate, if not medieval, roles, it is deeply disturbing to take stock of the retrograde nature of such behavior.
The equality sought by the early feminists, which has increasingly appeared fully achievable if not mostly achieved, is now sustaining a serious setback. When Betty Friedan and her colleagues began the feminist movement, the goal was for women to have the same opportunities as men. Distinctions between the genders in employment, compensation and, ultimately, success were to be eliminated. However, that process required blending men and women in the workplace and public arena. For many decades, the process proceeded steadily and well.
Today, however, in a world buffeted by identity politics, including gender politics, some women seem intent on going their own way. Just like the pink-clad Democratic women sitting on their hands in the chamber of the House of Representatives, too many women are standing out not as equal citizens of a great nation but as tools of a parochial set of sharp ideological notions.
Sometimes, blending in rather than standing out is the key to success. Women wearing pink, waving paddles with foolish liberal messages and refusing to cheer for fundamental American values do not promote anything other than a message that they want to set themselves apart.
Achieving equality involves conforming to certain social norms and accepting societal standards, especially in the public square. Democratic women may want to give more thought to their image and the causes they advocate.
• Gerard Leval is a partner in the Washington office of a national law firm. He is the author of “Lobbying for Equality: Jacques Godard and the Struggle for Jewish Civil Rights during the French Revolution,” published by Hebrew Union College Press.
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