In May of last year, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker gave a polarizing commencement speech at Benedictine College. After congratulating the graduates for their hard work and integrity in completing their degrees, he focused on the female graduates: “I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you, how many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you’re going to get in your career,” he said.
“Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world,” he continued. “But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
The speech immediately went viral, not for a good reason. He purposely addressed a group of women who pursued higher education, many with high hopes for future prospects, and redirected their attention to the traditional framework of motherhood and homemaking. Butker’s speech reproduces a limited understanding of women’s potential, ultimately ascribing them to one goal: being a housewife.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing the “traditional” path of becoming a housewife or a mother. The issue arises when women’s value is diminished for their lifestyle choices, whether that means becoming a career woman, mother or both.
While many may interpret Butker’s views as criticizing the pitfalls of feminism, his rhetoric, along with that of many others, advocates for a regression in feminist ideals, targeting the growing sentiment that feminism has “gone too far.” However, this opposition between tradition and feminism is a false one. Feminism, at its core, is not an attack on tradition, heteronormativity or men, but a fight for women’s autonomy and choice, which is why it will never run its course — why it will always, and especially now, be needed.
A common misconception is that feminism is no longer necessary because of legal accomplishments that expand options for women’s choices: the cornerstone Seneca Falls Convention in 1848; the 19th Amendment, which secured women’s right to vote; Title IX, which prohibited gender-based discrimination in federally funded education programs; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited employment discrimination; and the appointment of female Supreme Court justices like Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
But as Butker shows, social progress lags behind legal protections — despite the institutional accomplishments of historic feminists, autonomy and choice have yet to be culturally accepted. Just because women have the right to vote or can own businesses doesn’t mean misogyny no longer exists or that society has stopped telling them who they should be. The persistent need for feminism affects several pending issues in bodily autonomy, gender-based violence, workplace conditions, political leadership and “manosphere” media.
When we contextualize American feminism to a broader scale, we understand that feminism is just getting started. The harms of limiting women to only be housewives wasn’t widely and publicly challenged until 1963 with the publication of Betty Friedan’s revolutionary book, “The Feminine Mystique.” Women couldn’t open a bank account until the 1960s and they couldn’t hold a credit card without a husband’s signature until 1974. No-fault divorce, which allows individuals in abusive or unhappy marriages to easily seek separation, wasn’t established until 1969, and it wasn’t until 2010 that every state had a no-fault option.
Social progress comes slowly from legalized autonomy but, especially considering misogynistic ideas have been engrained into our society, believing they’ve been erased with a law disregards the lived realities of women.
This decenters women’s choice in feminism, which is evident in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and its overturning in 2022. The overturning may have been an adjustment of legal protections, but it also entailed social consequences that impede women’s ability to advance socially and economically, should they choose to do so. Now, other reproductive rights and norms are in jeopardy, like access to birth control, health care and comprehensive reproductive and sexual education, which is necessary to destigmatize consent and denormalize sexual violence.
Not to mention the alarming increase in gender-based violence that undermines women’s autonomy. Despite the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, studies indicate that one in four women have experienced completed or attempted rape in their lifetime while an average of 76 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month in the United States alone.
Even while entertaining the idea that legal protections for rights like home ownership, career building and political participation are enough, we find that legal protections themselves are not fully effective. As the gender pay gap remains firmly in place and 42 percent of working women experience gender discrimination, workplace discrimination persists despite regulations like Title VII. This undermines the supposed virtue of having choice and opportunity.
Looking at the slow progress in political leadership, where the United States has yet to elect a female president and women only make up 28 percent of Congress’ voting members, it is clear historic legal measures being used as proof of feminism’s uselessness are only an excuse for the suppression of women.
These statistics indicate that legal measures alone are insufficient. There is a pressing need for cultural and social shifts that promote values of consent, respect and the empowerment of women — in other words, feminism. Legal rights may have once promoted social advancement, but social stagnation illustrates how feminism is needed even more on a social rather than legal scale today, shifting conceptions of earlier feminist movements rooted in suffrage and legal rights.
Globally, the situation is even more dire. In 2023, approximately 51,100 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members worldwide, averaging one death every 10 minutes. Over 370 million women and girls, or one in eight, were raped or sexually assaulted before turning 18. (9) Many who call for the suppression of “radical” feminist ideals fail to consider a non-Western perspective — these figures highlight the urgent need for equality across the globe. Feminism is not an isolated movement but an ideal relevant and necessary for international issues infringing on women’s safety and rights.
Openly misogynistic figures like Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes have become increasingly popular and normalize sexism, but contrary to their propagations, feminist values are more necessary than ever. Feminism continues to face challenges, but the resilience and determination of those who champion women’s rights remain steadfast. Our grandmothers never stopped and neither will their granddaughters. The point of feminism isn’t to have power over men but power over ourselves.
As a message to my grandmothers, mom, stepmom, sister, stepsister, girlfriends, the women who’ve fought and will continue fighting, the female leaders I’ve looked up to since I was in elementary school: keep fighting. Until then, don’t tolerate ignorance or listen to those who tell you to stay in your place. We’ve proven to be strong, to be leaders and to be resilient.
Jenna Caron is a freshman double-majoring in Spanish and philosophy, politics and law.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.