Opinion | JD Vance Expresses Various Unconventional Views on Gender
The New Right is unified by a strong sense of overt chauvinism.
TroibNews 
On July 29, 2021, JD Vance made an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show during Carlson’s tenure as a Fox News host. Like Carlson, Vance had initially opposed Donald Trump but later became a fervent Trump supporter and a vocal participant in the culture wars. “We are effectively run in the country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs,” he told Carlson, “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” Vance specifically called out Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, and AOC as prime examples of childless leaders who should not be in positions of power.
For years, Vance has held a significant role among the elite echelons of the New Right, which is the intellectual wing of the Trumpified GOP and includes many leaders of Project 2025. This amalgamation of intellectuals, activists, politicians, and influencers consists of individuals with various belief systems and sometimes differing policy goals. However, a unifying instinct among Vance and the New Right is their deep skepticism of modern feminism and gender equality, which they refer to as “gender ideology.” Overt chauvinism aiming to reverse many of feminism's advances is a notable theme in this movement, and Trump’s endorsement of Vance solidifies this into the culture-war side of the MAGA movement.
Vance projects an image of a decent family man who supports traditional conservative values and is willing to deviate from GOP norms in favor of strong pro-family policies. However, his views on women and gender extend beyond mainstream American opinions. Vance is a staunch opponent of abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, comparing it to the evil of slavery. He opposed the 2023 Ohio ballot measure ensuring abortion rights and was one of 28 Congress members against a new HIPAA rule limiting law enforcement's access to women’s medical records. Vance has promoted Viktor Orban’s pro-natalist policies in Hungary, which provide benefits proportional to the number of children within a marriage, a policy aligned with Hungary’s ban on gay marriage since 2012. Vance also opposes same-sex marriage and, during his 2022 Senate campaign, suggested that the sexual revolution has made divorce too easy, arguing that unhappy marriages, and perhaps even violent ones, should remain intact for the children's sake. His campaign called such an insinuation “preposterous,” but a review of the video allows one to judge.
Vance identifies with the American New Right faction often termed “postliberalism.” Patrick Deneen, a professor at Notre Dame, outlines this group's basic outlook on gender and feminism in his 2018 book "Why Liberalism Failed." Deneen argues that liberal modernity, with its individualistic view of human nature, leads to a culture valuing autonomy over community and family life. “Liberalism posits that freeing women from the household is tantamount to liberation,” he wrote, “but it effectively puts women and men alike into a far more encompassing bondage,” equating work outside the home to submission to market capitalism. In the postliberal view, even gay marriage — uniting individuals legally into family units — represents social dissolution due to its basis in individual choice rather than traditional moral forms.
Vance, an admirer of Deneen’s work, spoke at the launch of Deneen's book "Regime Change" at Catholic University in May 2023. He praised Deneen’s book, identified personally with postliberalism and the New Right, and proclaimed himself to be “anti-elitist” and “anti-regime.” Vance uses populist language common among postliberals, discussing concepts like the “ruling class,” “replacing the elites,” and “using Machiavellian means to Aristotelian ends,” or “searing the liberal faith with hot irons.”
Harvard professor Adrian Vermeule is a key figure in American postliberalism, advocating for "Common Good Constitutionalism," a mode of thinking that would make it easier for conservatives in the U.S. to legislate morality. Vermeule’s conception allows judges to rule against laws promoting marriage equality or abortion by appealing to the “Common Good” standard.
Vance is also associated with the Claremont Institute, a hub for the New Right movement, having given a speech at their "Center for the American Way of Life" in 2021. There, he stated that the conservative movement should fight for every American's right to live a good life and raise a family on a single middle-class job.
The Claremont cohort includes some of the most extreme anti-feminists and misogynists in the movement, such as Scott Yenor and Jack Murphy. These figures, along with leaders like Ryan Williams, participate in the Society for American Civic Renewal, which promotes pro-patriarchy views.
Vance’s remarks about "miserable cat ladies" echo more extreme figures like Costin Alamariu and Stephen Wolfe, who criticize a political culture they see as dominated by women. Vance's mentor, Peter Thiel, has also expressed controversial views on women’s suffrage, writing in a 2009 essay about its negative impact on capitalist democracy.
National Conservatism serves as the umbrella organization for the New Right, and Vance has been a speaker at their conferences since 2019, including the recent meeting in D.C. where he delivered the final keynote address. The conference has gained prominence, with leaders like Chris DeMuth proclaiming the revival of faith, family, and fertility as the new mainstream. Vance's speech, "America is a Nation," echoed calls for a renewal of the American family.
In 2022, writer James Pogue profiled the rising New Right for Vanity Fair, detailing an interview where Vance expressed hope for dramatic changes from Trump. Vance's vision for the country emphasizes traditional masculinity, which raises concerns about its implications for women, especially given the masculinist, zero-sum world of MAGA.
Trump's 2020 loss of women voters by 15 points is notable; gaining back this ground is crucial for a possible return to the White House. However, his endorsement of Vance may not help, as Vance’s conceptual sexism might prove more alarming to many women and men than Trump’s crude machismo.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
For years, Vance has held a significant role among the elite echelons of the New Right, which is the intellectual wing of the Trumpified GOP and includes many leaders of Project 2025. This amalgamation of intellectuals, activists, politicians, and influencers consists of individuals with various belief systems and sometimes differing policy goals. However, a unifying instinct among Vance and the New Right is their deep skepticism of modern feminism and gender equality, which they refer to as “gender ideology.” Overt chauvinism aiming to reverse many of feminism's advances is a notable theme in this movement, and Trump’s endorsement of Vance solidifies this into the culture-war side of the MAGA movement.
Vance projects an image of a decent family man who supports traditional conservative values and is willing to deviate from GOP norms in favor of strong pro-family policies. However, his views on women and gender extend beyond mainstream American opinions. Vance is a staunch opponent of abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, comparing it to the evil of slavery. He opposed the 2023 Ohio ballot measure ensuring abortion rights and was one of 28 Congress members against a new HIPAA rule limiting law enforcement's access to women’s medical records. Vance has promoted Viktor Orban’s pro-natalist policies in Hungary, which provide benefits proportional to the number of children within a marriage, a policy aligned with Hungary’s ban on gay marriage since 2012. Vance also opposes same-sex marriage and, during his 2022 Senate campaign, suggested that the sexual revolution has made divorce too easy, arguing that unhappy marriages, and perhaps even violent ones, should remain intact for the children's sake. His campaign called such an insinuation “preposterous,” but a review of the video allows one to judge.
Vance identifies with the American New Right faction often termed “postliberalism.” Patrick Deneen, a professor at Notre Dame, outlines this group's basic outlook on gender and feminism in his 2018 book "Why Liberalism Failed." Deneen argues that liberal modernity, with its individualistic view of human nature, leads to a culture valuing autonomy over community and family life. “Liberalism posits that freeing women from the household is tantamount to liberation,” he wrote, “but it effectively puts women and men alike into a far more encompassing bondage,” equating work outside the home to submission to market capitalism. In the postliberal view, even gay marriage — uniting individuals legally into family units — represents social dissolution due to its basis in individual choice rather than traditional moral forms.
Vance, an admirer of Deneen’s work, spoke at the launch of Deneen's book "Regime Change" at Catholic University in May 2023. He praised Deneen’s book, identified personally with postliberalism and the New Right, and proclaimed himself to be “anti-elitist” and “anti-regime.” Vance uses populist language common among postliberals, discussing concepts like the “ruling class,” “replacing the elites,” and “using Machiavellian means to Aristotelian ends,” or “searing the liberal faith with hot irons.”
Harvard professor Adrian Vermeule is a key figure in American postliberalism, advocating for "Common Good Constitutionalism," a mode of thinking that would make it easier for conservatives in the U.S. to legislate morality. Vermeule’s conception allows judges to rule against laws promoting marriage equality or abortion by appealing to the “Common Good” standard.
Vance is also associated with the Claremont Institute, a hub for the New Right movement, having given a speech at their "Center for the American Way of Life" in 2021. There, he stated that the conservative movement should fight for every American's right to live a good life and raise a family on a single middle-class job.
The Claremont cohort includes some of the most extreme anti-feminists and misogynists in the movement, such as Scott Yenor and Jack Murphy. These figures, along with leaders like Ryan Williams, participate in the Society for American Civic Renewal, which promotes pro-patriarchy views.
Vance’s remarks about "miserable cat ladies" echo more extreme figures like Costin Alamariu and Stephen Wolfe, who criticize a political culture they see as dominated by women. Vance's mentor, Peter Thiel, has also expressed controversial views on women’s suffrage, writing in a 2009 essay about its negative impact on capitalist democracy.
National Conservatism serves as the umbrella organization for the New Right, and Vance has been a speaker at their conferences since 2019, including the recent meeting in D.C. where he delivered the final keynote address. The conference has gained prominence, with leaders like Chris DeMuth proclaiming the revival of faith, family, and fertility as the new mainstream. Vance's speech, "America is a Nation," echoed calls for a renewal of the American family.
In 2022, writer James Pogue profiled the rising New Right for Vanity Fair, detailing an interview where Vance expressed hope for dramatic changes from Trump. Vance's vision for the country emphasizes traditional masculinity, which raises concerns about its implications for women, especially given the masculinist, zero-sum world of MAGA.
Trump's 2020 loss of women voters by 15 points is notable; gaining back this ground is crucial for a possible return to the White House. However, his endorsement of Vance may not help, as Vance’s conceptual sexism might prove more alarming to many women and men than Trump’s crude machismo.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
