Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley was widely mocked for urging men to fight "liberal culture" by being “something more than a consumer of pornography” and to start families.
Hawley issued his remarks during an interview with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, saying young people "want to be challenged in this way" though he did not provide any evidence to bolster his absurd claim.
Hawley later shared footage of his appearance on Fox News to his official Twitter account and declared his followers should "rebel against liberal culture" and "stand up" for their own ideas.
You can hear what Hawley said in the video below.
\u201cRebel against liberal culture: Quit porn. Start a real relationship. Start a family. Have your own ideas - and stand up for them.\u201d— Josh Hawley (@Josh Hawley) 1671589958
Hawley said:
"I think the liberal culture, what the message to young people is [that] the most you can aspire to in life is to be a consumer who sits in a cubicle in front of a computer all day and doesn't ask any questions and doesn't do anything meaningful with your life."
"What to say to young men and to young women, too, is just the opposite: Aspire to be something more than a consumer and for young men, aspire to be something more than a consumer of pornography."
"Aspire to actually create something in your life, like create a family, for instance. That is the single greatest act of rebellion if you like against the liberal culture that is suppressing people's desires, that's suppressing their potential."
"It's to go out and engage in real relationships, get married, have a family, have kids, have your own ideas, and be a responsible member of society. I mean, this is what people are built to do, and again, young people want to be challenged in this way."
Hawley's remarks are not dissimilar from comments made last month by Fox News personality Jesse Watters, who was criticized after he absurdly demanded that single women "get married" so they stop voting for Democrats.
Watters' remark came as Fox News hosts collectively reeled over midterm election results, which did not result in the "red wave" Republican legislators and pollsters had predicted.
A visibly annoyed Watters blamed single women and voters under the age of 40 for the election results, suggesting that these consequences could be avoided if single women get married and “settle down” because they have for the time being been "captured" by Democrats.
All the while, a Fox News chyron cautioned that young, single women are voting "overwhelmingly" for the Democratic Party.
\u201cFox's Jesse Watters: "... But single women and voters under 40 have been captured by Democrats. So we need these ladies to get married. And it's time to fall in love and just settle down. Guys, go put a ring on it."\u201d— The Recount (@The Recount) 1668082792
Indeed, polls over the years have demonstrated that women do tend to vote for Democrats. Data also suggests that women turn out to vote in greater percentages than men and did so for these midterm elections. In fact, exit polls show that more than half of the women surveyed voted for Democrats.
Hawley's remarks are a rehashing of this old Fox News chestnut, and they exposed him to immediate criticism.
\u201cI'm of the opinion that when people get really upset about porn and tell you not to watch it, they are telling you more about their own struggle with it than anything else. \nJust one person's unverified opinion on this.\u201d— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi Buchman) 1671631750
\u201cThis sounds like big government getting involved in our personal lives. Why is the @gop so obsessed with the sexual practices of Americans? Sounds perverse.\u201d— Patriotic Moose & Lamb (@Patriotic Moose & Lamb) 1671623542
\u201cthe dangers of assuming everyone else has the same issues you do\u201d— raina douris (@raina douris) 1671596280
\u201cI would bet on a dog\u2019s life that this man watches the most unhinged porn\u201d— Molly (@Molly) 1671596675
\u201cWhat the hell is he talking about? Young people today are more entrepreneurial and visionary than most of us were at their age. If his definition of success is defined by starting a family, it\u2019s a very narrow view.\u201d— LadyJudy5 (@LadyJudy5) 1671603628
\u201cDefinitely sounds like someone's projecting ha ha\n\nNobody:\n\n@HawleyMO : "You know what we need to do? Quit porn."\u201d— Gyasi Ross (@Gyasi Ross) 1671639244
\u201cSuburban families have swung massively towards the Democratic Party in the last three cycles because of you and your pals\u2019 poor leadership, Josh.\u201d— Heath Mayo (@Heath Mayo) 1671598528
\u201cWhat's that saying? Every Republican accusation is an admission? Am I close?\u201d— Judy Walton (@Judy Walton) 1671609024
Republicans have a record of devoting significant time to what they perceive as a calculated nationwide effort on the part of liberals to attack masculinity.
Hawley last year accused "the Left" of hurting "the future of the American man" and went on to claim that the "deconstruction of America begins with and depends on the deconstruction of American men."
Carlson—on whose program Hawley appeared—has also gotten in on the act, though he had critics scratching their heads after he released the trailer for The End of Men, a film which starts off warning viewers about dropping testosterone levels, includes footage of shirtless white men wrestling, doing push-ups, chopping wood, firing guns, and even, yes, lying naked while getting their groin tanned.
