JD Vance isn't just out to get cat ladies -- his weird plans target dog people and grandmas, too [View all]

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JD Vance isn't just out to get cat ladies — his weird plans target dog people and grandmas, too
The self-styled expert on the ladies now claims "normal" women don't care about reproductive rights

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published August 16, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Ohio Sen. JD Vance is a man with an obsession. The video of Donald Trump's running mate raving on Fox News in 2021 about "childless cat ladies who are miserable" went viral in part because host Tucker Carlson's practiced "dumbfounded" face adds an extra layer of weirdness to any clip of right-wing absurdity. But fantasizing about the secret unhappiness of all those pretty single ladies hugging kitties on Instagram was pretty much Vance's full-time job for years. Media Matters dug up a whopping 13 other instances of Vance railing about childless women, calling them "sociopaths" who "must be stopped." Repeatedly, he singled out cat ownership as a sure sign that one belonged to the "cabal" of non-mothers he believes are single-handedly destroying the nation.

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Jokes aside, the fury over pets underscores what's really going on with Vance and the neo-patriarchal movement he represents. They hide behind sentimental language about children, but the pattern shows something else: resentment towards anything that might distract a woman from serving a man and raising babies. It's not just the big-ticket "distractions" like having a job that infuriates them, either. Garden variety pleasures, such as having a pet, cause them to come unglued. Not weird at all!

We can see this in another clip of Vance that's gone viral. In it, Vance apparently agrees with a podcast host's pontification on the "purpose" of "postmenopausal women," language choices that only make sense if you think women have no value outside of baby-making. But while older women may be infertile, Vance assures us that he doesn't think they need to die quite yet, because they have some value: Raising his kids so that he doesn't have to.

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At this point, I must point out polls show abortion is a top issue for voters, especially pro-choice voters. But it's also true that Vance, like Trump, is dialed into a fascistic ideology that argues their narrow views on gender roles are "natural" and everything that falls outside of that is "unnatural." So yes, most women may be pro-choice, but that gets written off as an aberration imposed on women by the "feminist agenda." In this view, a woman's "natural" desire is towards young and frequent childbearing. Any rejection of that is rebellion against her fate ordained by biology and/or God. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/16/jd-vance-isnt-just-out-to-get-cat-ladies--his-weird-plans-target-dog-people-and-grandmas-too/