Misogyny is the biggest – and most unflattering – trend of 2023

I’d like to offer a belated congratulations to flagrant misogynists everywhere on the unprecedented year they had in 2022. The swift dismantling of Roe v. Wade. The tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police. The suffocation of women’s rights in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s return to power. The rise of alpha male mega-influencer and alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate. The trauma-feeding frenzy of the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. That vicious and weirdly personal op-ed Jeremy Clarkson wrote about Meghan Markle. Need I go on? Simply put, last year was a banner one for assholes and an objectively wretched one for women. And the forecast for this year is shaping up to be similarly bleak. 

Take, for instance, CNN anchor Don Lemon’s February on-air fiasco during a conversation about 51-year-old Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and her controversial suggestion that older politicians like President Biden should be required to undergo mental competency testing, Lemon shared an unsolicited, not-at-all-accurate “theory” on how women age. 

“She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime,” Lemon said. “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” Prime for what exactly? Childbearing? Political discourse? An extended stay at a luxury villa in the Maldives? The world may never know. When asked to elaborate, Lemon simply told his puzzled female cohosts to “google it.” “I’m just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians…need to be in their prime when they serve, because she would not be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is,” he added clunkily before allowing the moment to pass. 

It’s worth noting that Lemon isn’t citing anything resembling fact—just archaic biological clock nonsense. But the moment continued to irk me (and, apparently, Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh) well after the initial backlash. Superficially, it sounds like a national news anchor demeaning a female politician. On a deeper level, though, it showcases the way society defaults to defending men—in this case, President Biden—against perceived threats to their leadership. (Haley isn’t totally innocent however. Republicans love to fuel the narrative that Biden is too senile to serve.) 

Only a couple of days prior to Lemon’s televised mega flop, misogynists elbowed their way to the forefront of pop culture during Chelsea Handler’s weeklong stint guest-hosting The Daily Show. After airing a skit about the singular pleasures of being a childless woman, Handler drew the ire of conservative talking heads Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, and Jesse Kelly. During a segment for his nightly Fox News show, Carlson could barely conceal his glee as Kelly bemoaned the stupidity of “feminists” who choose to pursue careers instead of families. 

“And soon you’re Chelsea Handler,” Kelly ranted. “Soon it’s Valentine’s Day and your womb resembles a dried-up tumbleweed blowing down an old Western town, and your Valentine’s Say date for the 10th year in a row is a 10-year-old copy of Magic Mike and a half-full bottle of Xanax, and you’re trying to pretend like you’re happy, but you’re not happy. And it’s actually not her fault. She’s been lied to by a country that has lost its way.”

Golf legend Tiger Woods went similarly viral last month for jokingly handing his opponent a tampon after outdriving him during the first round of the Genesis Invitational. Woods later apologised for the immature prank between friends, but the implication was clear. Even after having a daughter of his own, Woods still seems to think playing poorly and playing “like a girl” are synonymous. Hilarious! It’s a familiar and frustrating pattern. Online backlash flares, an underwhelming apology is issued, and short-lived consequences are doled out as a little treat—a cycle that provides enough catharsis to appease the public without having to promise meaningful change or long-term accountability.