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  "description": "The misogyny is raging",
  "path": "/conservatives-war-on-women/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-27T15:30:32.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.thepurse.co",
  "tags": [
    "_Letitia James_",
    "_Lisa Cook_",
    "_Dr. Erika McEntarfer_",
    "_Gwynne Wilcox_",
    "_Jennifer Abruzzo_",
    "_Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows_",
    "_fired a number of top female military officers_",
    "_top Black officers_",
    "_disproportionately impacted_",
    "_Marjorie Taylor Greene_",
    "_Elise Stefanik_",
    "_Epstein files_",
    "_Georgia election center_",
    "_concept of DEI_",
    "_women’s health_",
    "_disenfranchise us at the polls_",
    "__The Handmaid’s Tale__",
    "_female reporter “piggy,”_",
    "_better behaved than many of our elected officials_",
    "_Racism is rampant right now_",
    "_Transgender Americans are being targeted_",
    "_we care for those in need_",
    "_thorough report_",
    "_published a story_",
    "_it was suing_",
    "_Jessica Grose writes_",
    "_It felt like a victory for a traditional view of gender roles._",
    "__Financial Times_ reports_",
    "_recent _New York Times_ op-ed_",
    "_It seems complicated_",
    "_liberal men show plenty of disdain, too_",
    "_this reel_",
    "_very fun and interesting edition_",
    "_Casey Lewis’s story_",
    "_New Yorkers out shoveling snow_",
    "_deep, deep dive_",
    "_asked for your dining-out budgets_",
    "**_Submit your meal plan here_**",
    "_like this one pretty please_",
    "Women’s Foundation of Minnesota",
    "_Alicia’s essay_",
    "_according to data from ADP_",
    "What financial chore is on your to-do list?Should we start an accountability group?The PurseLindsey Stanberry",
    "What 15 women spend on takeout and restaurants each monthIf only we lived closer to Aldi.The PurseAlicia Adamczyk",
    "“We’ve been fairly flexible in who is doing the primary parenting”Division of Labor No. 25: The Ladies Get Paid cofounders raising toddler twins in L.A.The PurseAlicia Adamczyk",
    "How a Family of 4 in Brooklyn Spend Their $525K Joint SalaryOur first Home Economics written by a man!The PurseLindsey Stanberry",
    "_AJ Ayers_",
    "_make energy bites_"
  ],
  "textContent": "This week a lot of people got really mad at the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team after some of them laughed at a sexist joke our president made about the U.S. women’s team. My Instagram feed was flooded with people expressing their outrage and disappointment. While you might argue the reaction feels outsized—it was just a dumb joke from a dirty old man—I’d argue it’s indicative of something bigger happening right now in our society.\n\nIt’s a scary time to be a woman in the U.S. It’s pretty clear that the party in power simply hates us. Just look at how this administration has been systematically going after high-ranking women—Trump’s so-called “adversaries”—including New York State Attorney General _Letitia James_, Fed Chair _Lisa Cook_, former Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics _Dr. Erika McEntarfer_, National Labor Relations Board member _Gwynne Wilcox_ and general counsel _Jennifer Abruzzo_, as well as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission officials _Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows_, just to name a few.\n\nMeanwhile, last year, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth _fired a number of top female military officers_, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first female chief of naval operations, and Air Force Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short, who served as the senior military assistant to the secretary of defense. (He fired _top Black officers_ as well.) And among the rank-and-file government employees who were fired by the administration, Black women were _disproportionately impacted_.\n\nRepublican women aren’t safe from men’s ire either. And _finally_ some of them are denouncing the misogynistic bullshit of their conservative peers. Sure, it’s easy to think, “No duh” when _Marjorie Taylor Greene_ and _Elise Stefanik_ both decry their party’s sexist ways, but at least their eyes are finally opened, and they put down the Kool-Aid. Our president might let women have a seat at the table, but his track record suggests that it’s more than likely he’ll hang them out to dry when it comes time to blame someone for the latest crisis. (See: Pam Bondi taking the heat for the mishandling of the _Epstein files_, or Tulsi Gabbard getting blamed for the raid on the _Georgia election center_. BTW, why are we not talking about that story more?)\n\nThere are dozens of big and small ways conservative leaders are trying to undermine women every day. They’ve made the _concept of DEI_ practically verboten. They’ve made massive cuts to research focused on _women’s health_. They’ve stripped us of our reproductive rights, and they’re threatening to _disenfranchise us at the polls_. As someone who read __The Handmaid’s Tale__ at a formative age, I can say my biggest fear is that I wake up one day and discover I cannot access my money. In our dystopic reality, it doesn’t feel so far-fetched.\n\nWhen the elected officials at the highest levels of our government treat women so badly, we shouldn’t be surprised that our whole society is impacted by the trickle down. The president makes a sexist joke, or calls a _female reporter “piggy,”_ and that jerk in marketing feels empowered to do the same. Part of me just wants to roll my eyes and dismiss them as stupid little boys wearing ill-fitting men’s suits. The other piece of me is terrified. (Also, the boys I know may be prone to share too many poop and fart jokes, but they are much _better behaved than many of our elected officials_.)\n\nObviously, the administration doesn’t just have it out for women. _Racism is rampant right now_. _Transgender Americans are being targeted_. And there’s a full-blown war raging against immigrants. In order for these men to achieve their (ridiculous) vision for the future of our nation—one where only white men are in charge and everyone else is subservient—they must first strip away all our rights and leave us powerless.\n\nStill, I do not feel hopeless. I feel angry and annoyed. And I am confident that women will persevere. Men have always underestimated us and written us off as the weaker sex. But we know the truth. I can’t say it better than the luminous Kristin Scott Thomas did in _Fleabag_ with her fantastic menopause monologue.\n\n“Women are born with pain built in. It’s our physical destiny—period pains, sore boobs, childbirth. We carry it within ourselves throughout our lives. Men don’t. They have to seek it out. They invent all these gods and demons so they can feel guilty about things, which is something we do very well on our own. And then they create wars so they can feel things and touch each other, and when there aren’t any wars they can play rugby. We have it all going on in here, inside.”\n\nSo what do we do at this moment when misogyny is raging? We do what we’ve always done. We keep going. We call out the bad jokes. We run for office. We speak out against injustices we see, and _we care for those in need_. We call on our male allies for their support. And we remind anyone who will listen that we are the ones who really make the world go round. As The Highwomen sing, we’re “running the world while we’re cleaning up the kitchen.”\n\nBut if you’re one of those male allies, could you pick up a sponge? We shouldn’t have to do this alone._- Lindsey_\n\n## **The war against women in the news**\n\n  * The National Women’s Law Center put together a _thorough report_ detailing how Project 2025, the Republican Party’s signature policy agenda, will impact women, families, and gender justice. In December, The 19th* _published a story_ outlining how much of Project 2025 the Republicans accomplished last year. (Spoiler alert: a lot.)\n  * Last week, the EEOC announced _it was suing_ a New Hampshire-based Coca-Cola bottler for allegedly discriminating against male employees when they hosted a women-only career development event. NBC News reports that “the EEOC is demanding that the company compensate male employees for their ‘emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, and other nonpecuniary losses.’”\n  * On the trickle-down effect, _New York Times_ columnist _Jessica Grose writes_, “What chills me is a sincere fear that they—and all the other girls who have never known politics without Trump—will not be treated as fully human by the men and boys in their lives.”\n  * Last year, political scientists Michael Tesler, John Sides, and Colette Marcellin argued that the 2024 presidential election was more than just a victory for Trump. “ _It felt like a victory for a traditional view of gender roles._”\n  * Trump’s war on women doesn’t just affect the states. The London-based __Financial Times_ reports_: “A U.S.-led backlash against diversity measures has contributed to some multinational companies quietly softening language around diversity, including speaking broadly about inclusion rather than enacting specific measures to boost the representation of women or ethnic minorities.”\n  * “Women will never be taken seriously until leadership decides to take us seriously, and I’m no longer holding my breath,” writes Representative Nancy Mace (Rep.-S.C.) in a _recent _New York Times_ op-ed_ decrying the ineffectuality of the U.S. House of Representatives.\n  * “What does it mean to be a conservative woman in 2025?” Elaine Godfrey asks in _The Atlantic_. _It seems complicated_!\n  * At Vox, Constance Grady argues it’s not just conservatives who hate women; _liberal men show plenty of disdain, too_.\n  * Need a palate cleanser? My friend Heather posted _this reel_ with the note, “An hour ago, I hated men, and then I watched this.” I mean…\n\n\n\n## **What else we’re talking about**\n\n  *  _Bloomberg Businessweek_ put out a _very fun and interesting edition_ about the economic force that is Gen Alpha. As the mom of a kid born squarely within this generation, I find it all fascinating. I especially love _Casey Lewis’s story_ featuring snapshots of Gen Alpha kids posing with their favorite things. -_Lindsey_\n  * All the _New Yorkers out shoveling snow_—and getting paid $30 an hour to do so—warmed my heart during this week’s blizzard. _- Alicia_\n  * Friend of The Purse Caitlin Moscatello did a _deep, deep dive_ into the rise of middle-aged women receiving ADHD diagnoses and shared her own experience for The Cut. It’s a fascinating read! -_Lindsey_\n\n\n\n## **On our radar**\n\n  * **New feature alert!** When we _asked for your dining-out budgets_, we received feedback that readers are interested in seeing other families’ weekly meal plans and grocery budgets. So we’re kicking off the search! **_Submit your meal plan here_**. Because of the work involved (we’ll have follow-up questions and ask to see your literal grocery receipts as well as detailed meal plans), we are offering **$300** for selected submissions.\n  * Lindsey is forcing me to make TikToks, so _like this one pretty please_? _-Alicia_\n  * Just a reminder that this month, we’re donating 10% of all new annual subscriptions to the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota.\n\n\n\nUpgrade to paid\n\n## **Quote of the week**\n\n\n\n## **Comment of the week**\n\n> “Stuff like this makes me glad I’m old, but I’m worried about young people. Even if AI doesn’t take over as soon as its proponents claim it will, it’s going to affect all of us; it’s shocking we aren’t better prepared as a society.”\n\n-Rosana Francescato on _Alicia’s essay_, “Is the white-collar job apocalypse upon us?” This one has a hoppin’ comment section—add your thoughts!\n\n## **Graph of the week**\n\nGraph produced with Claude\n\nTraditional personal finance wisdom says that if you want to get a substantive raise, you should change jobs—for years, there was a pay premium for doing so. But now, that premium has all but vanished, _according to data from ADP_: The difference in pay gains between job-changers and job-stayers was just 1.9% last month, compared to a high of 8.4% in April 2022.\n\n## **What else we published on The Purse this week**\n\n What financial chore is on your to-do list?Should we start an accountability group?The PurseLindsey StanberryWhat 15 women spend on takeout and restaurants each monthIf only we lived closer to Aldi.The PurseAlicia Adamczyk“We’ve been fairly flexible in who is doing the primary parenting”Division of Labor No. 25: The Ladies Get Paid cofounders raising toddler twins in L.A.The PurseAlicia AdamczykHow a Family of 4 in Brooklyn Spend Their $525K Joint SalaryOur first Home Economics written by a man!The PurseLindsey Stanberry\n\n## **Best money we spent this week**\n\n  * I grabbed drinks with _AJ Ayers_ to (belatedly) celebrate her turning in her book manuscript. Nothing better than a Tuesday night talking about money with another cool woman in finance. (~$30). -_Lindsey_\n  * Once again I spent all my money on food. I’m on a health kick, so I splurged on flaxseed, hemp seeds, oats, shredded coconut, and so on to _make energy bites_, because snacking on things like chips is my weakness. (~$30) _-Alicia_\n\n\n\nSubscribe for more!",
  "title": "We see what’s happening to women in the U.S.",
  "updatedAt": "2026-02-27T15:30:32.211Z"
}