Anti-LGBTQ congressman Josh Hawley is once again the laughingstock of Twitter after showcasing his lack of understanding of basic human anatomy.
In a series of hallway interviews, HuffPost asked various Republicans from the Judiciary Committee the same veiled question Marsha Blackburn asked Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearings last week: define “woman.”
Related: Sen. Marsha Blackburn embarrasses herself on Twitter with failed American civics lesson
Thom Tillis responded to the question by saying, “My wife.” Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham defined a woman as someone who is “biologically a woman.” And Ted Cruz said, “A Homo sapien with two X chromosomes.” But it was Josh Hawley’s response that has drawn the most widespread ridicule.
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Hawley, who believes straight white cisgender males are the most marginalized group in America, began answering the question by mansplaining about how womanhood is inherently tied to an individual’s ability to give birth.
“Someone who can give birth to a child, a mother, is a woman,” he said. “Someone who has a uterus is a woman. It doesn’t seem that complicated to me.”
Related: Josh Hawley says Clarence Thomas is a victim of misogyny and we’re all a little dumber now
Turns out, it’s a little more complicated than that. Because things quickly fell apart when the reporter followed up by asking about women who have had hysterectomies, a procedure the CDC estimates 20 million people in the country have undergone.
“Yeah. Well, I don’t know, would they?” Hawley responded.
When pressed further about whether a woman would still be defined as such if she lost her reproductive organs to, say, cancer, Hawley answered the question with another question: “I mean, a woman has a vagina… Right?”
Here’s what folx on Twitter are saying about the whole thing…
“I mean, a woman has a vagina, right?” Hawley opined.
Meet Josh Hawley: A man who has only anecdotal knowledge of a woman’s reproductive system. A man who would be at a loss to define, let alone find, a clitoris.
Josh Hawley: A politician proudly representing…The Twilight Zone
— AlleyRose 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (@kSkyeGre) April 6, 2022
Hmm. Does @HawleyMO know that gender confirming surgery gives trans women a vagina? https://t.co/HH1zXFFITZ
— Code Name Pending (@marciarusso) April 6, 2022
A reporter asked if a woman who lost her uterus due to a hysterectomy or cancer would still be a woman.
“I mean, a woman has a vagina, right?” Josh Hawley said.Well, damn, I know a lot of trans women who have vaginas!
— Sandy G Hickerson (@SandyGHickerson) April 6, 2022
So, if I’m no longer a woman, what am I, exactly? Vagina-man? My husband is going to be so confused.
— Starla Tobias (@MizzusTobias) April 6, 2022
Josh Hawley reduces women to “a vagina.” That’s all that makes us a woman. According to Josh.
— Dawn Stands with Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@viewsfordays) April 6, 2022
If Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley had a baby it would be Tom Cotton.
— Jo 🌻 (@JoJoFromJerz) April 6, 2022
So if all you need is a vagina to be a woman then a trans woman who has had bottom surgery is a woman, right @HawleyMO?
— NICKinNOVA (@NICKinNOVA) April 6, 2022
“I mean, a woman has a vagina, right?” Hawley opined.” On top of all else, Hawley doesn’t seem to know the difference between a vagina and a uterus.
— Donna Maderer (@DonnaMaderer) April 6, 2022
What the interview didn’t report was that Senator Josh Hawley had to consult with his handlers to then say women had vaginas and that qualified them as women. Though initially unsure, he eventually concurred.
— @jolenekellner (@kellnerjolene1) April 6, 2022
Adam gave birth to Eve, making him the first woman — Josh Hawley, biologist.
— Moscow Mitch’s Shell Corporation Is People Too (@opus17) April 6, 2022
Bosch
Why does this generation like turning to politicians for information about medicine, biology, and psychology? Do we turn to our dentists for politics? Do we turn to the butcher for interior design?
Harley
Do republicans ask that of Supreme Court nominees?
canadiankid
Because politicians create laws and policies that can control medicine, biology, and psychology practices, among every other facet of our modern life. It’s imperative we press them about this and ensure they have the understanding to make proper policies and don’t claw back any progress we’ve made.
Bosch
I’m referring more to the way certain people trust politicians on matters of biology, medicine, and psychology more than they trust actual biologists, doctors, and psychologists.
You know they’re just going to be quoting Hawley as if he’s Grey’s Anatomy.
Mister P
There are real problems that the senate should address rather than bullying the LGBTQ+ community.
barryaksarben
Not with those Heritage backed judges, The vast majority of Americans WANT women to have access to abortion but does anyone think AMY ( the rights handmaid) wont get rid of Roe V Wade asap and then they will turn to gays and trans and try to criminalize our very existence. They are sick right wing-nuts who care nothing for actual JUSTICE and these miniature goat turd trumpettes in the gop will only too gladly help them.
Kangol2
Not just Heritage, Barry, it’s Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society and its backers, the Thomas More Society with its far-right Catholic judges, etc. Quite an extensive network of right-wing organizations and multimillionaire and billionaire backers who’re pushing these extreme laws, as Sheldon Whitehouse pointed out during the hearings, and as he’s noted at other hearings. And yes, stripping away gay and trans equality and rights, including same-sex marriage, is in their eventual policy wheelhouse. The right-wing fanatic who wrote the Texas anti-abortion vigilante law is on the record as being against same-sex marriage, I believe.
ZzBomb
This whole “define a woman” thing is really blowing up in their faces.
Brian
“This generation” isn’t “turning to” them at all. A sitting judge was interviewing for a job promotion, and a bunch of ancient white men decided that it was a good time to bring up anatomy. The politicians themselves are the ones deciding that politicians are the right people to talk about this.
Man About Town
Are they the ones who brought it up? I could be mistaken (I didn’t watch the entire series of hearings) but I thought it was Misguided Meshuggeneh Moron Marsha Blackburn who asked this incredibly stupid question. In a perfect world, Judge Jackson would have answered, “Well, usually a woman is someone who knows how to brush her hair, which I suppose makes you a neanderthal man.”
Bosch
I’m not just referring to this. I’m also referring to people trusting politicians more than doctors on matters of virology and vaccination. People believing the opinions of politicians over psychologists on matters of child development or human sexuality.
I mean, it’s obvious what kind of people I’m referring to, right?
kish
It’s like, they routinely attempt to define “woman” and it immediately gets debunked. Quite easily.
They’re not defining what a woman is, they’re telling the world what they expect a woman to be. A vagina, a baby producer.
Fahd
It’s fun to expose the astounding ignorance of Hawley and other Republicans, but focusing on these topics feeds into the Republican wedge issues – Republicans can only win by pandering to the prejudices and fears of their poorly educated base – gets them to the ballot box.
More debate about real issues would help the nation advance; the media should stop conspiring in dumbing down the political discourse.
cheks
I’m really tired of the republican obsession with trans people. You can’t legislate trans people away. You can misgender, laugh, ban medical procedures, or do whatever people have been doing to trans people since forever. It’s not going to make trans people disappear. And too many people actually love and accept trans people as people that you’re going to get push back if you keep being assholes. Let’s just move on so people can just live their lives.
moretruth
He’s known as Needledick Hawley. Although I’ve heard Q-Tip is more accurate. Seriously.
LMG
Is Marsha Blackburn a woman? Are Greene and Boebert women? Shouldn’t they all be subjected to a forensic examination to be sure. They all have children, but are far from being “lady like”. If a women is defined by having a vagina, then what makes her different from an elephant or a horse? Are Hawley, Cruz, or Graham, men just because they supposedly have a penis? I have my doubts about Lindsey. Neither Cruz nor Graham have any balls which they have demonstrated many times by their behavior. As for Hawley, he’s so narcissistic that he probably thinks that he has three of them. And how do we define Tom Cotton who appears to be made up of that which is his name. More appropriately, TC is like Peter Cottontail – a ball of fluff who also mistakenly thinks that his name gives him more credibility. At least PC is housebroken.
TomG
The repukelicans continue to PROVE that they are most ignorant and uneducated of the two parties. I guess that is why only the uneducated vote for them.
Georgeiv2
Josh Hawley has a wife ? was she lobotomised ? or is she just another American Christian ?
Jim
It is amazing how many Republicans failed biology class in HS.
Heywood Jablowme
Josh should have gone with the girls to that 7th grade special class about “menestration.”
JessPH
Transwomen don’t have vaginas. That’s not a vagina. It’s a wound. That’s why a dilator must be constantly inserted to stop it from closing or healing.
Jami Stardust
Well, the surgery is a vaginoplasty, and doctors call the results “vaginas.” If you want to get technical, then you’re wrong. They are vaginas as many cis men have discovered in the bedroom.
scotty
well one thing’s a given here…that josh hawley does toss salad.