ON MATT WALSH’S: “WHAT IS A WOMAN?”

Matt Walsh’s new Film “What is a Woman?” (produced by The Daily Wire) is, in some ways, a valuable contribution to the bipartisan movement to fight back against the inclusion of so-called “gender identity” in law and throughout society. It is also a celebration of sex stereotypes.

Matt Walsh clearly loves sex stereotypes. The first few minutes of the film consist of a practically orgasmic celebration of girls liking pink, dolls, and glitter, and boys liking blue, trucks, and guns. It ends with his wife, clad in a bathrobe and washing the dishes in the kitchen, stating that a woman is an adult human female and asking for his help in opening a jar of pickles. He goes on to open the jar, clearly quite impressed with his own virility.

The film does one thing really well: It exposes the absurdity of the fact that no one seems to be able to define what a woman is. Walsh does this with humor and insight. His on-the-street interviews with strangers are a mixed bag. Most likely, a lot of the people he encounters don’t have any idea why he is asking “What is a woman?” because they are not enmeshed in the gender wars. Many of them seem to be genuinely surprised and not to understand the point of the question. But many of them answer along the lines of “a woman is anyone who identifies as a woman,” and part of this project’s worthy aim is to expose this absurdity. Walsh does a spectacular job in his interviews with so-called “experts” on topics like sex and gender, and the moment the Congress person ends the interview and walks out is brilliant. 

The film does something else well: It exposes the lies and the horrors of “child transition.” Our society, our laws, and our medical establishment are actively engaged in a eugenics project. We are mutilating and sterilizing children. We are all horrified about that, and glad that he exposed this vicious industry for what it is. No one has done more to expose the industry than the 11th Hour Blog, but nonetheless, the more light that is shed on this travesty, the better.

Much ado has been made on social media about Walsh’s failure to interview any radical feminists for the project. Many women are very angry that he appears to present himself as a savior in this fight, when women (feminists, especially) have been fighting back against the movement to abolish sex for years. We understand this criticism and respect it. 

One might object by asking “but wait, how do you know that Walsh even knew about the radical feminist objections to “gender identity?’” We know because when WDI USA president Kara Dansky’s book The Abolition of Sex: How the ‘Transgender’ Agenda Harms Women and Girls was published in November 2021, the book publicist repeatedly requested interviews with both Walsh and The Daily Wire. The requests were all ignored. When Kara brought this to Walsh’s attention several months ago on Twitter, Walsh engaged with her and responded that his podcast format does not lend itself to interviews. Fair enough, but Walsh can’t now say that he didn’t know about us when he went about creating this film.

We think there is a much bigger problem with Walsh’s intentional omission of radical feminist voices though. It is not that we need Walsh to appreciate the contributions of feminists. He doesn’t, and we know that. None of us particularly cares what he thinks of feminists. We already know that he dismisses us. Further, feminists are not angry because their egos got hurt. None of us is interested in fame for fame’s sake. Many of us would likely be thrilled to win this battle, and then shrink off into obscurity, to live out the rest of our lives on the beach or in the mountains. 

The problem with Matt’s failure to include radical feminist voices is that it is a terrible political strategy. 

The fight against the gender industry (what the 11th Hour Blog calls the “techno-medical complex) consists of lots of diverse players with different viewpoints and values. That’s a good thing. It is well-known that radical feminist groups like WDI USA are comfortable working with conservative organizations when it is strategic to do so. And it often is. WDI USA has accomplished a lot by working with conservative organizations (especially women’s groups like the Independent Women’s Forum and Concerned Women for America) who understand the strategic importance of highlighting leftist radical feminist voices in the fight. These groups understand this: If this political battle consists of the big bad Christian right v. a marginalized group of “trans” people, women are going to lose. They understand that they need our voices if we, collectively, are going to win. Matt either doesn’t, or won’t, grasp this.

We understand the value of this film in exposing things that need to be exposed. We also think that the key demographic in winning this political battle are going to be mainstream liberals who are still in the dark about the dangers of “gender identity” because the media keeps them there. Most mainstream liberals quickly see through the absurdity of “gender identity” once it is pointed out to them. We also think that approximately zero of them are going to be persuaded by (or even know about) a film produced by The Daily Wire, featuring a known Christian conservative traditionalist, that omits the leftist feminist critique of “gender identity” entirely.

Many men, including Walsh, know what a woman is because they know exactly upon whose neck to place their boots. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with them, to see if they can be persuaded that they need radical feminist voices if they want to win. Until then, they aren’t helping. 

While we were composing this statement, Walsh tweeted this offer to “join forces with anyone to bring down gender ideology.” WDI USA president Kara Dansky tweeted this in response. We’ll see if he makes good on his offer. 

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