Yes, really.
Charlie Kirk, founder of the right-wing nonprofit organization Turning Point USA, effectively set the tone for the Young Women's Leadership Summit by mansplaining to the audience how they should live their lives. The political commentator leaned into gender stereotypes the way your drunk Uncle Harry leans into the bar around closing time: hard.
At one point during the dayslong event, a young woman opened up about her goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. She said she’ll be 30 by the time she can even think of starting a family and asked Kirk for his take.
“Go try to spend a couple days with babies, and if it doesn't move you to want to have some of your own, then go do the surgeon thing,” he said in part.
He later continued: “I just want to caution you: A reality is that there are a lot of successful 35-year-old orthopedic surgeons that have cats and not kids. And they're very miserable.”
Damn, Kirk — what did cat-loving orthopedic surgeons ever do to you?
NEW: I went to Turning Point USA's Young Women's Leadership Summit in Texas this weekend.
— Madeline Peltz (@peltzmadeline) June 11, 2023
Famous career women in right-wing media repeatedly told the audience of college and high school age girls: Give up your dreams to get married and have babies. https://t.co/BdSEiuzuvU
Kirk then alleged that the “radical left” is mostly being “run by childless young ladies” on antidepressants. He added that there’s “nothing wrong” with being wholly career-driven before asserting that “evidence” overwhelmingly supports it’ll “lead to an empty life.”
At another point, Kirk claimed that the concept of prioritizing one’s career is a “very, very dangerous proposition.” He said he’s heard from 32-year-old women who aren’t able to find a suitable partner because “all the good ones are gone.
“And so, I think you should prioritize, ‘What do I want most in my life?’” he said. “And if that thing is the best thing that I think a human being can do, which is to get married and have kids, then you should do that with clear intentionality.”
Other speakers at the event included conservative commentator Candace Owens and conspiracist and Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Kari Lake, who last year lost a bid for Arizona governor, offered attendees more measured advice by conceding that when it comes to family and careers, women can have both.Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA brought their message of patriarchy and Christian nationalism to Grapevine, TX, this weekend for the Young Women’s Leadership Summit.
— Christopher Tackett (@cjtackett) June 12, 2023
Charlie told young women don’t pursue that career. Get married and have kids, or “all the good ones are gone” pic.twitter.com/PpCopzSwOF
Turning Point USA’s Alex Clark railed against topics ranging from abortion to birth control, even taking aim at daycare.
Another theme at the event was anti-LGBTQ+ hate. Kirk blasted the venue, the Gaylord Texan Resort, for flying a Pride banner alongside the U.S. and Texas flags.
He also claimed to have attempted to take it down but said he’d “failed.”
“By the way,” he added, “this hotel better do something or we're going to find another hotel, because I'm not going to come back.”
Girl, bye. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
