What is a Woman?
The US Senate Tackles Another Big Issue
This is another entry in Civic Way’s journal on current events, and their relevance to our future governance. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.
Since the 1960s, the US has experienced a cultural transformation on gender. Attitudes about women—their capabilities, roles and needs—have changed. Too much for some. Not enough for others.
Whatever one’s views, there has been notable progress toward gender equality in virtually every corner of American society. Law. Business. Education. Healthcare. Sports. Entertainment. Even politics.
Still, many inequities remain. No female Presidents (not yet). Most political and corporate leaders are male. Pay inequities persist. Professions dominated by women, like teachers, remain woefully underpaid in most states. Sexual harassment. And, even where there have been gains for women, too many men worry they have come at their expense.
And women remain a mystery in many ways, at least to men. And questions about the differences between women and men endure.
Why are women better listeners than men? Or more collaborative? Why do women care more about their appearance? Why are menial household tasks considered woman’s work? Why mansplaining or manspreading? Why is the divorce rate so low? Are testosterone levels really declining and, if so, why?
Thankfully, the US Senate is searching for answers.
Many have criticized the US Congress for polarization, paralysis and worse. The institution’s public opinion ratings are abysmal and show no signs of improvement.
Why? So many of our elected representatives seem fonder of preening than problem-solving. Serious debates about looming threats, like climate change, healthcare and debt, seem extinct. Too often, our leaders get tangled in political theatrics and kick big problems down the road.
Fortunately, we may be starting to see some real profiles of courage among our representatives. During the recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, several US Senators chose that stage to tackle one of the most critical issues of our time—What is a woman?
Some cynics have suggested that these Senators don’t really care about women. That it was merely a scheme to link Judge Jackson to progressive education or child abuse. Others were moved by their noble campaign to protect helpless women and children from the horrors of liberal tolerance.
Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee launched the inquiry, asking Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?”
When Jackson responded, "I’m not a biologist,” Blackburn countered, "the fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about."
Isn’t this the kind of courage we need in the US Senate?
Other senators—all male—joined the attack. Sen. Ted Cruz told Jackson, “I think you are the only Supreme Court nominee in history who has been unable to answer the question ‘What is a woman?’” That prior nominees have not been asked the question merely demonstrates how long we have been waiting for the US Senate to muster the courage to pose it.
After the hearing, other Senators tackled the same question. Sen. Chuck Grassley went right to the science, writing, “A woman is born with two X-chromosomes,” overlooking women born with one X chromosome or men born with two X chromosomes. Sen. Josh Hawley opined that a woman “has a uterus,” seemingly overlooking those with hysterectomies.
Sen. Mike Lee deftly defined a woman as an “adult female of the human species.” Sen. Thom Tillis defined a woman as “my wife.” Sen. Lindsey Graham assured us that most Americans can determine who’s a woman and who’s a man (news that might have negated the need for the inquiry). Coming full circle, Sen. Blackburn refused to answer the very question she first posed.
We can be grateful to these Senators for having the courage to jumpstart a national dialogue on this divisive issue. We owe a bigger debt of gratitude to Marjorie Taylor Greene for offering closure.
“I’m going to tell you right now what is a woman,” thundered Greene at the Georgia Republican Assembly, “We came from Adam’s rib. God created us with his hands. We … are the weaker sex, but we are our partner’s, our husband’s wife.”
Another big issue resolved. Who needs mansplaining?