While quoting Taylor Swift, no less!
If Taylor Swift put Travis Kelce on the map, bigotry put Harrison Butker well, everywhere.
During an unhinged and now viral commencement speech at Benedictine College, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker managed to insult almost everybody: gay people, trans people, women, men, catholic people, surrogates, and couples struggling with fertility — no community was left undiscussed! The speech was only 20 minutes but managed to fit an impressive amount of bigotry.
Butker, who describes himself as an introvert and entrepreneur, made sure to ramble off some run-of-the-mill drunk uncle at a wedding platitudes about men being too feminine. What he said is what you would expect ChatGPT to auto-populate when you ask, “What would Jordan Peterson say at a commencement speech in 2014?” He enlists men to “be unapologetic in your masculinity” and “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.” A guy telling other guys that they can be guys, how original.
But the address really took a turn when he singled out the female graduates. “I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” he said. “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.” A bold claim from a person whose own mother is a career physicist!
Butker then admitted that his wife abandoned her own goals so that he can pursue his, but added that he’s pretty sure she’s cool with it. “I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: Homemaker,” he said. “Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you ask her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation, and say, ‘Heck no.'”
He proceeded to quote Taylor Swift (who according to a brief internet research is not a homemaker) and reference her relationship with Travis Kelce, saying, “As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt.”
I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on this stage today, able to be the man that I am, because I have a wife who leans into her vocation.
-Travis Kelce’s coworker
But while Swift’s boyfriend’s coworker sternly encouraged women to focus on baby-making, he also demonized the very policies that would facilitate it. He called IVF and surrogacy “bad policies” stemming from “degenerate cultural values and media” [that] “stem from pervasiveness of disorder.” He also criticized Biden for being “vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies.” For a guy who loves moms, he sure doesn’t seem to love when they have healthcare, options, or any choices!
He also called Pride month a “deadly sin” and went off about diversity and inclusion, but it was so inarticulate that I won’t waste your time with it.
If all of this homophobic Stepford housewife hogwash seems familiar, it’s because a middle-aged woman said it in 2014. Susan Patton, who became widely known as “Princeton Mom,” rose to fame after encouraging female students to look for a husband while they were in college. And if she feels like a mid-2010s fever dream, it’s because she vanished from our feeds after blaming women for sexual assault, which honestly doesn’t feel that far off from where Butker was going with this speech.
This fiasco begs the question: how did this even happen in the first place? How was a misogynistic and gay-bashing speech like this even ever approved? What should happen next?
Liz Plank is an award-winning journalist and international bestselling author. She hosts Synced, a podcast with Monica Padman and Dax Shepard, and the Man Enough podcast with Justin Baldoni and Jamey Heath, where they interview influential figures about their journey to manhood. Plank regularly appears on national and international television programs to provide a perspective on politics, gender issues, and reproductive rights, including The Today Show, The Daily Show, MSNBC, CNN, ABC News, Fusion, Al-Jazeera America, and BBC World.
This piece originally appeared in Liz Plank’s substack Airplane Mode, which you can subscribe to here.
