Far-right Congressman Madison Cawthorn took to the House floor Monday and amped up his anti-transgender rhetoric by offering a juvenile, and inaccurate, definition of womanhood.
While attacking the Democrats for seeking to protect trans folks against discrimination, he said:
“You might amend a bill, but you will never amend biology. Science is not Burger King. You can’t just have it your way.
Related: Madison Cawthorn’s weird sex scandal just took an even weirder turn
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“The left has ripped away the pin of truth from the author of life,” he continued. “They’ve exchanged natural science for party platform and declared war on biology.
“I never imagined that one of my sacred duties in this hallowed chamber would be explaining to the House Speaker the difference between a man and a woman,” he said. “Take notes, Madame Speaker, I’m about to define what a woman is for you.
“XX chromosomes, no Tallywhacker. It’s so simple.”
Cawthorn’s definition of a woman includes “no tallywhacker” pic.twitter.com/vuKVJdyUJY
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 4, 2022
Last month, Cawthorn raised eyebrows in Washington and beyond when he claimed his Capitol Hill colleagues host orgies and regularly do “key bump[s] of cocaine” in front of him.
Many Twitter users alluded to those comments while also expressing their thoughts on his “tallywhacker” speech:
A US congressman just said the definition of a woman is no tallywhacker. You can’t make this shit up. We really are an embarrassment as a country.
— Bewitching Tales 🐾🌻🇺🇦 (@BewitchingTales) April 4, 2022
Any adult who uses the term “tallywhacker” should have his cocaine orgy pass revoked.
— keith higginbotham (@ohaikeith) April 4, 2022
“Tallywhacker” sounds like something someone says who ISN’T actually invited to orgies.
— 💀DeathMetalViking💀 (@DeathMetalV) April 4, 2022
Burger King? Tallywhacker? I’ve lost a few IQ points listening to him.
— Eleanor 🆘️ (@eleanor_rigby49) April 4, 2022
No Tallywhacker is a Republican description of a Woman. Really
— JScottyboy53 (@JScottyboy53) April 4, 2022
Tallywhacker is the password Cawthorn used to gain admittance to the cocaine-fueled orgies.
— Hold My PomPoms Bitches (@Scattered211) April 4, 2022
Meanwhile Katie Dean, one of the Democrats fighting in the May primary race to unseat him, had this to say:
Today, Madison Cawthorn said that the definition of a woman includes the term "no tallywhacker" and that "science is not Burger King."
If Congress won't expel him, I will defeat him.
— Katie Dean (@ElectKatieDean) April 4, 2022
Brian
This country desperately needs a few scientists in Congress. Even if just 1% of Congress had the littlest bit of scientific training, it would be a huge improvement. Instead, we’ve got accountants, oil executives, and dropouts pretending to have experience in biology.
We’ve known for a LONG time that women are not defined as having two X chromosomes. There are people with 1, 3, or 4 sex chromosomes.
You also can’t just say XX vs. XY because you need to look deeper into what’s actually on those chromosomes. There are people with two X’s who have certain particular genes turned off or on, or genes that are duplicated, or genes with mutations in them. There are genes that control other nearby genes to enhance or suppress them. There are just so, so many variations. This stuff is taught at the *introductory* level, and politicians are getting it wrong… so there’s no hope that they’ll ever even attempt the more interesting stuff that’s taught at higher levels of science.
GlobeTrotter
All of what you’ve said is true, HOWEVER, you’re talking about anomalies that affect a very tiny percentage of the population. The overwhelming majority of men are born with XY chromosomes, and females with XX. The fact that other variations are so rare confirms the rule.
Scientifically speaking however, there’s a far more accurate definition of male and female preferred by biologists:
male = the sex that produces tiny but numerous sex cells (gametes)
female = the sex that produces large but few sex cells
This definition is far superior to XX/XY chromosomes, for as you pointed out, there’s a lot that can go wrong, even if it does so rarely.
MacAdvisor
In the US Senate, there are currently two scientist, former astronaut Mark Kelly representing Arizona, and former geologist John Hickenlooper representing Colorado. Given there are 100 members, this would mean twice your goal, 2%, are scientist. In the House, there are 12 members with science backgrounds. With 435 member, that means 2.75% are scientists. Thus, your prediction, “if just 1% of Congress had the littlest bit of scientific training, it would be a huge improvement.” We are well passed that mark and there isn’t an improvement.
Eternal.Cowboy
Globetrotter-
Your definition fails spectacularly. There are people that, for a variety of reasons, end up not producing sperm or ovum. In fact that number is larger than people that fall outside of xx/xy.
Also, inferring people that fall outside of xx/xy are some sort of mistake is just crappy. They are people and they deserve the same level of respect and dignity as anyone else.
GlobeTrotter
@Eternal.Cowboy: It matters not that you produce or do not produce sex cells. As you’ve pointed out, there are a variety of reasons that could prevent an individual from producing sex cells, the most common of which is old age. What matters is that your body was programmed to produce said sex cells.
For example, an older woman might no longer produce egg cells, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t female. What counts is that her body has/had the capability to reproduce itself by way of large but fewer gametes, i.e. egg cells. The fact that this capability has been switched off, for whatever reason, doesn’t diminish who or what the particular individual is.
Furthermore I don’t remember inferring that people that fall outside of XX/XY are not deserving of the same level of respect and dignity as anyone else. Those are your words, not mine. I was neither raised with such values nor do I subscribe to them, and I certainly don’t associate with anyone that does. I believe in treating everyone the way I would like to be treated, regardless of their background or origin. That’s why I strenuously reject ALL identity politics as well as any attempt to divide us along the lines of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, nationality, religion, skin color, etc. I believe people should just be the best person they can be and should treat each person with dignity and respect. I could care less whether a person is trans, straight, gay, bi or anywhere in between. Coming out to me is therefore a grand waste of your own time, for I will treat you based only on your character and your accomplishments, not based on your group identity or origin.
Hope that clears up where I stand.
Kangol2
MacAdvisor, you’re correct. We could use a lot more intelligent scientists in Congress, and that includes people with specialties in the natural sciences, in engineering and applied sciences, in computer science and related technologies, and in mathematics. The Congress could also use a few psychologists and psychologists! I’ll set the question of medical doctors aside, since they’re a mixed bag.
DCFarmboy
Madison has never confirmed nor denied that following his accident, he has a tallywacker.
TomG
People voted for this schmuck which only goes to PROVE that our country is NOT as advanced as some people would like have other countries believe. We are slowly but surely regressing backwards to the dark ages.
ZzBomb
Even without the wheel chair, Cawthorn will always be half the stature of a real man.
kish
“XX chromosomes, no Tallywhacker. It’s so simple.” So eloquent
I would love to see his (incomplete) college transcripts.
Eternal.Cowboy
He really exposes the misogyny behind the anti-trans movement. He can’t actually describe what a woman is he can only describe what they aren’t with respect to men.
kish
All hatred towards trans women is misogyny.
Transphobes only see the binary, and when they see (from their perspective) a man become a woman, it’s like the ultimate transgression.
That’s what makes the “protect women” argument” so infuriating. Transphobes do not want to protect women; they want to keep women in the same traditional role as always and keep them under control.
MacAdvisor
I think Cawthorn is a complete idiot. I am not even sure I could put up with his stupidity for a one-night stand, but his description included, “XX chromosomes.” That doesn’t describe a women in relation to a man, but positive statement of a female characteristic. I am rather sure a staff member gave him the line as I don’t think he knows a chromosome is.
Maria
I’ve never understood the idea that this is misogyny. It seems obvious that the republican argument is that they are protecting women (cis women) from predatory men ( how they perceive trans women). That’s also explicitly the TERF perspective. The hatred isn’t against women, it’s against those they perceive as men. The goal isn’t (in this case) to keep women in traditional female roles, it’s to keep men in traditional roles. That explains why he phrases his definition of what a women is by what a woman doesn’t have, because his argument is based on what it is to be a man. When assessing a hate crime, it’s the motive of the aggressor not the identity of the victim that matters, so isn’t this is the same misandry that affects gay/bi/queer men?
kish
Keeping women in a particular, defined container is absolutely the goal of the transphobe. It’s evident every time they attempt to define a woman. And lol if you think there isn’t a hatred or disrespect for femininity attached to this, regardless of how it is manifested. The aggression that is thrown at gay/bi men is also rooted in misogyny because, historically, ignorant people equate gay men with women. To be femme is to be weak. It is something that is not respected.
Maria
Transphobic, yes, obviously. But there is both hatred of the feminine and hatred of the non-masculine. The requirement that certain people perform masculinity needs to be addressed as well or we won’t make any progress. TERFs don’t exclude trans women because they hate the feminine they see in people, they do it because they hate the masculine they see
kish
I would argue that TERFS claim to hate the masculine they CLAIM to perceive.
I would also argue they hate the “hyper femininity” that they notice in trans women.
barryaksarben
Anti trans in the gay community makes me sick. All kinds of the same arguements used against us for decades is now tweaked and turned against the trans community
Den
It is fascinating to me to see that the anti-trans movement essentially demonizes M-T-F’s and largely ignores F-T-Ms. Somehow I find this related to how the hatred for Homosexuality is usually directed towards gay men, whereas lesbians are seen as either irrelevant, in need of a “real man” or part of the ideal three way.
It all seems to come down to what the “male gaze” can tolerate. Trans men easily pass, especially when (as so many do) they take on the external signifiers of masculinity. They are seen as men. Trans women are seen as a threat to or as traitors to masculinity. As for the notion that they are predators. That clearly is straight men fanaticizing about something they would like to do!
Dr Sarah
It’s actually more that they dismiss FTMs as silly girls who’ve just been conned into thinking they’re trans.
Derek Northcutt
in that accident where he lost the use of his legs, didn’t he also lose the use of his tallywacker? That’s what we call a “silver lining.”
greekboy
He was kinda cute, but in the last year he looks like Howdy Doody without all the strings.
Joshua333
Herion does that to some people.
Jaquelope
No. Howdy Doody was much better looking.
Jaquelope
I’m aware that in the Southern states “Tallywhacker” is a common term for “penis”, just as there are innumerable other terms used for that body part. While I disagree with him about what makes a woman, it seems he hasn’t learned that there are other, non-localized terms that he could have used.
Whether or not he has/has not retained his after the accident, I wonder if he considers the males who have been completely emasculated, either through accident or surgery for whatever reason, if he considers them women too. If a man can’t use it anymore, does that mean he’s also a woman with a useless bit of flesh? Since I hear/read that he may have lost the sexual use of his due to the accident where he lost the use of his legs, wouldn’t that make him less of a man, according to what they seem to think.
I also believe that @Den (above) has hit the nail squarely on the head with what he said about the straight transphobes reasons for hating trans women. In a way, it’s very similar to the straight male reaction to the feminism movement begun by Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug back in the ’70s.
whereshouldistart
I know a Vietnam vet who had his “tallywhacker blown off when he stepped on a mine.
I dare that obnoxious gutless little turd to call HIM a woman. I imagine it would look a little like Maddie punching that defenseless tree, only this time, the tree would be punching back.
thisisnotreal
As someone with a birth defect and being in a wheelchair as well, it really blows me away and disappoints me that someone like him can be so self serving and harmful to groups that are “different”. most people I know with a disability have lived a life full of so much difficulty that it sort of forces you to rethink how you view the world and the people in it and it usually makes you more empathetic towards other people who are different. This guy serves as a reminder to me that just because someone is in a wheelchair like me, doesn’t mean they will have empathy and an open mind when it comes to the suffering and struggles of other people who are deemed different from the rest of society. Thanks for the life lesson Madison, nice to know that people in wheelchairs can STILL be close minded self serving @$$holes, guess I’m the fool for expecting better of people like me.
CNY1983
everyday its something else with this idiot. life is not a bowl of campaign ads and your job is not to insult the speaker of the house. why dont you pick on someone your own size you tallywhacker?
Fname Optional Lname
The right is really screaming “trans” through the megaphone because they want to convince their clan that creepy pedophiles will put on dresses and follow their children into the bathroom at Target. What few have pointed out is that is not a TRANS issue! That is most often a STRAIGHT MAN issue. Statistics show time and again that most victims of pedophiles are someone they know however the right does not care to even research the basis of their fear – they just hear “Left” and “Evil” and that’s good enough for them.
A
Prax07
Todays GOP, home of anti-science, flat earthers, jewish space lasers, terrorists, qanon foolishness, Trump as a god-figure, gun lovers, orgiests, cokeheads, underage traffickers…the list of degenerate things they do and believe goes on and on. Might as well change the party name to Pondscum Suckers.
Boo Radley
The truth is, he didn’t embarrass himself at all. In order for that to happen, he would need to possess some sense of shame, a conscience, or self-awareness. Cawthorn is totally devoid of any of these things. I’m sure he was quite proud of his ridiculous diatribe.
Mister P
There have been hundreds of mass shootings and no one in the whacky right wing thinks any action should be taken.
There are a few instances of Trans women in sports winning and they demand action.
Supposedly they hold the moral high ground.
Kangol2
Anyone get the names of those high-level Repugs that Cawthorn claimed are snorting coke like it’s fresh air and engaging in out-of-control orgies? Someone ought to make this little Nazi-loving weasel cough them up. Who in the GQP is using illegal drugs and whoring like they’re restaging Caligula? Name names, Madison!
GayVeteranOfcr
Cawthorn is unfamiliar with female anatomy, it appears.
Men and women share analogous organs.
This is true even to the male penis and the female clitoris.
Any doctor who has studied anatomy understands both are erectile organs and functionally similar in providing sensations.
Men and women both possess glands that provide lubrication, and in the same positions.
Look these things up for yourself on Google, Cawthorn, if you’ve never had the experience of hands-on examination of women.
Obviously, your satisfaction with your own sexuality may be in question as you are embarrassed by it.
dadhc
Maddie reminds me of Justin Bieber; both live their lives the way they want, then call on God when they’re in trouble.
CityguyUSA
I thought tally whackers were optional now. Right Bruce I mean Katlyn?
Invader7
He’s another low life GQP scum… Too bad that care accident didn’t kill him !!!!
Georgeiv2
Now lookie here boy , I said lookie here, you just keep that tallywhacker of your in your britches we dont want any little Cawthorns cluttering up the place ( I will pray for you )
trojanboy
He is a tallywhacker.
TommyIL
Everyone, including the politicians and everyone commenting on their opinions, is talking about biology. No one is discussing gender identity or separating gender from biological sex. The anti-trans crowd either wants to deny or doesn’t believe that the two things are separate. So it doesn’t really matter how we biologically define a woman. The debate should be about whether gender is independent of sex (I believe it is even if most often they are highly correlated). The science everyone should referencing in their arguments concerns this question.