Harrison Butker- MAGA hates women...and freedom

Sounds like someone just said the quiet part out loud...and no, he "doesn't represent Kansas City nor has he ever"

News Flash: In a move that shocked precisely no one in the Kansas City area, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has come out to the entire nation as a hyper-religious MAGA asshole, hypocrite, and misogynist. When asked for a comment, President Biden switched to French and said only, “Quelle surprise.”

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Yeah, I know; by now, I’m probably the 1500th person to hold forth on the upright, uptight, field-goal-kicking, festering human pustule that is Harrison Butker. And while I could certainly go on at some considerable length about what a freakin’ asshole the guy is, I don’t know him, so I’m going to try to steer clear of personal insults. Why? Because I think there’s a better way to deal with someone like him, a character straight out of a Margaret Atwood novel.

It helps to understand that Butker is hardly alone in his sentiments, repellant as they are. He speaks for large swaths of Conservative religious thought, whether it be Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or [insert preferred oppressive faith tradition here].

Yeah, when you’re a self-righteous, homophobic, misogynistic, Christocratic dick, you’re…well, you get the point.

My reaction to Butker’s speech was that it had little to do with Christianity per se because little of what he said can be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No, it was more about his desire for a world where men reign supreme, and women exist primarily and only to serve that reality.

In His eye….

And I wasn’t the only one reacting that way. Some of the reactions I encountered, particularly from women, were eloquently rage-filled—and rightfully so.

Jen Mann

, who lives in Kansas City and was not unfamiliar with Butker’s troglodytic views previously, had the best response I came across:

I only know who this guy [Harrison Butker] is because I am a fair-weather fan. When things are going well for the Chiefs, I will watch football with the Hubs. I know that this season there were several nailbiter moments and this fucking guy came in with his fabulous foot and sealed the deal. I also know he’s very committed to his conservative Catholic views and he’s not afraid to share his beliefs. When Kansas was voting to keep access to abortion legal, several TV ads ran featuring him urging fans to vote against the measure.

He’s a good kicker, but he’s kind of a piece of shit person. Maybe piece of shit person is too strong. Maybe I’m being unfair. You tell me what you think.

This weekend, this fucking guy was invited to give the commencement speech at Benedictine College and he had a lot to say.

Yes, he did. Saying that “he had a lot to say” is being rather polite about Butker’s prodigious assholery, but that’s about as polite as Mann could manage the rest of the way.

Up His bottom….

I watched his entire 20-minute commencement speech on YouTube, you can see it here, and I scribbled down some thoughts as I watched it. Here are some of my notes:

1. “Stay in your lane” is mentioned a lot by a dude who kicks a ball for a living telling women what to do with their lives.

2. God doesn’t like abortion, IVF, or surrogacy??

3. He’s pissed at the bishops. I didn’t really follow why he’s mad (even though he says he’s not mad, he’s mad). I think he’s mad at the bishops because they’re not burning witches at the stake anymore.

4. He’s mad at a priest who takes pictures of himself and his dog wearing matching outfits. Where is this priest? I need to follow him.

5. He quoted Taylor Swift but called her his “teammate’s girlfriend.” Maybe he’s trying to be humble and not name-drop, but something felt weird to me about that one. Kind of misogynistic and patronizing. Especially once he started really preaching to the ladies in the room.

6. Ladies, be ladylike. Have a fuckton of babies. God hates birth control.

7. Men, be masculine. Without you there’s chaos. Are you fucking kidding me?? Hyper-masculine men EQUALS chaos.

8. Go to Latin Mass because…I didn’t follow his reasoning. I know he said it WASN’T to be superior and it WASN’T for the “bells and smells” but I’m not sure WHY he wants these people to go to TLM (that’s what the cool kids call it) but everyone should go.

9. Ladies, congratulations, you must be proud, blah, blah. Looking forward to promotions and titles at work, but you’re REALLY excited about the best job ever: “homemaker.” Fucking applause for a while. WTF?

10. Is he CRYING??

11. Fuck this guy.

Let’s dispense with the first and biggest irony. In a speech telling women that their highest and best calling is to remain barefoot and pregnant during their fertile years, he quotes Taylor Swift, a woman who’s a veritable industry unto herself. Could that be interpreted as hypocritical, misogynistic, AND patronizing? Youbetcha.

In His shorts….

There’s something about Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s beard. It doesn’t say “I’m a sexy guy with facial hair.” There’s something off about it. It seems to instead say, “In my Christian men’s group of 100 percent heterosexual husbands, we agree that beards are a sign that you are the patriarch of your wife and children, who are required by law to obey you.” It says, “Is today the day I cut off my wife’s finger for asking permission to read the Bible? Only God knows His plans!”

It is not the good kind of beard.

- Evan Hurst

And the whole thing about men being masculine? Doesn’t that explain why women would rather find themselves in the woods with bears than men? Because men won’t take “NO” for an answer—you know, “NO MEANS YES, AND YES MEANS ANAL?”

And going to Latin Mass? How does an ancient ritual in a dead language speak to today’s world, other than to confirm the 17th-century “truths” Harrison Butker is trying to impart?

Yes, Benedictine is a private Catholic college, so mentioning bishops, priests, and TLM all make sense, I guess. There are over 2,000 students enrolled and 51% are female, the DEAN is a woman, 10 of the board members who invited him to speak are women, but that didn’t stop this fucking guy from getting on stage and telling women to stay the fuck home and birth babies.

Yep, that’s right. When he was done railing about the Pride Parade, Biden, Covid, and leadership gone astray, he got this smug little smile on his face and said, "For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you."

This fucking guy went on, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

Yes, women, you are merely vessels into which men pour large quantities of sperm so that you may produce fucktons of children, who will produce fucktons of children, who will produce fucktons of children, and so on. Your role is not to BE original or to THINK originally or critically. No, your most basic and vital role in this world is to lay on your back, spread your legs, and think of your duty to your husband, God, your and Country.

Without marriage and children, ladies, your life will be an empty, meaningless husk, a dry, windswept, valueless prairie absent of joy and laughter. You may solve world hunger, cure cancer, and/or send people to the farthest reaches of the universe. That said, I’d venture to guess that what you’ll miss the most is marriage and the children you could’ve brought into this world.

Up His nose….

WTeverlastingFuck is he droning on about? Is he saying that staying barefoot and pregnant is the highest and best use of ambitious, intelligent women with dreams and aspirations?

Can you imagine being a woman in that audience? You’re like, “Today is a terrific day! I’ve spent $100,000 [true story, Benedictine is $26K a year, $50K if you don’t get aid] on my education and I’m ready to step into the world and live my dream of my career in the field of XYZ,” and this fucking guy is like, “Nah. You’ll be miserable. That excitement you’re feeling? That’s not about a career, it’s about MARRIAGE, baby. It’s all about getting that ring—from a man, because gays suck—and having as many youngins as the Lord sees fit to give you because birth control is bad.”

Yeah, you didn’t spend four years in college amassing thousands of dollars in debt so that you could have a career. No, silly wabbit, it was all about getting an MRS. degree! It was about finding genuine and lasting heterosexual love—because, yeah, gays DO suck (I’ll skip the irony there)—and cranking out babies until you can’t walk anymore.

Because that’s what the Lord wants (birth control is BAD, don’tchaknow?), and He’ll give you as many young ‘uns as he thinks you can handle.

I’m sorry, but if I were a woman that thought would scare the everlovin’ shit out of me. The idea that I’d have NO control over how many children I’d have and that there was the genuine possibility that I could spend my 20s and 30s perpetually pregnant?

Oh, HELL, no…that ain’t happening.

Then he started getting choked up about his wife and how she leans into her “vocation.” I about puked when he literally said his wife Isabelle gave up her “dream of having a career” to take on the role of “homemaker.” When the crowd erupted into loud applause, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Were the ladies in the room LISTENING??? Were they HEARING him??? All I can think is it was the men applauding. I know that’s not true because you can hear a lot of women hollering. Maybe they’re yelling, “Stay in your lane!” but I don’t think so.

No, these were young men and women who’d spent four years in Gilead, KS. They were thoroughly indoctrinated into Harrison Butker’s way of thinking. They’re ready, willing, and almost certainly able to go out into the world and begin creating the nation of Gilead that MAGA dreams of replacing America with.

It’s one thing if a couple negotiates these roles and decides together that the woman will stay at home and the man will work. If that’s what they choose, then who am I to cast aspersions? I may disagree, but it’s neither my circus nor my monkeys.

So, I’ll scream and yell into the void about how ideology like his is dangerous. What he’s looking for is a society that eliminates the power of everyone who doesn’t look like him or worship like him. I’ll remind you that he votes (and I’m assuming he allows his wife to vote—for now), his friends vote, his fellow parishioners vote, and everyone who applauded for him at that commencement speech vote. The line between Church and State is blurring more every day, thanks to people like this fucking guy. The rights of people of color, the LGBTQ community, women, and other marginalized groups are being eroded, thanks to people like this fucking guy. So, we can be outraged now, but we can’t forget when it comes time to vote.

And, Isabelle, if you’re happy with your vocation, then you do you. But blink twice if you need help because this fucking guy is kind of scary.

- Jen Mann

It’s quite another to preach an ultra-Conservative (even for MAGA) view of America that treats women as sperm receptacles whose role is to serve and service their men.

Here’s the real irony inherent in Harrison Butker’s speech:

I find it amazing that this man had the nerve to stand on a stage and tell women to stay in the kitchen and men to lean into their masculinity because they set the “tone of the culture” (hard pass on that culture) all while knowing his MOTHER is a medical physicist who works in the radiation oncology department at the Emory University School of Medicine. That seems like a long way from the vocation her son would have chosen for her.

The question I have is why Benedictine College asked Butker, someone who makes his living kicking an oblong object through two upright metal poles, to give its commencement speech. It’s not like Harrison Butker is negotiating world peace, bringing food aid to areas blighted by famine, or driving locusts out of Wisconsin.

He’s an athlete with one skill he uses six or seven times a game. That’s it. As he proved with his speech, he’s not a great thinker, but he’d certainly make a great tyrant.

What Harrison Butker and people like him are really after is a world set up for the convenience and profit of good, God-fearing White Conservative Christian Cisgender Patriots. Will women even be allowed to vote, or will they be consigned to a sort of second-class status similar to what they “enjoyed” before the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920?

The Kansas City area has known Butker to be an unreconstructed asshole and misogynist for lo, these many years. Now, America is learning the unpleasant truth about his abhorrent and repellant views.

His speech illustrates the sickening reality that this Presidential election is not just a contest between two men. It’s a contest between two competing and widely divergent ideologies. One, represented by Joe Biden, still believes in democracy and individual rights. The second, represented by Donald Trump, is a dark and dangerous view of America as a crime- and drug-infested Hellhole that can only be fixed by a strongman who must dismantle the Constitution to do so.

It’s not a choice “between the lesser of two evils,” as many poorly-informed Americans seem to believe. It’s a choice that will determine the future of our country—and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration.

Harrison Butker is merely the most recent wannabe despot to say the quiet part out loud.

So, what’s it going to be, America?

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(THIS JUST IN: The National Football League responded to Butker’s homophobic, misogynistic, judgmental, and hyper-religious diatribe by telling him to “shut up and kick.” Not an exact quote, to be sure, but close enough.)

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