No, Women Aren’t the Problem

Helen Andrews’s essay “The Great Feminization” reached my feed on the same day that photos spread of the East Wing of the White House—the space traditionally reserved for the first lady and her staff—reduced to rubble. The spectacle was almost too on the nose: Here was the nexus of women’s (limited) history within the executive branch, once home to Jacqueline Kennedy’s Rose Garden and Laura Bush’s restored movie theater, now totally demolished. Donald Trump has made clear his wishes to put a new ballroom in the East Wing’s place. But his planned additions to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue also include the installation of an Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon for America’s 250th birthday celebration. (The former UFC star Conor McGregor, an Irishman whose Wikipedia subsection for “Rape and Sexual Assault Cases” is 982 words long, was personally hosted by the president in the Oval Office in March.)