We Are Not Aspiring To Be Humble
Why childless cat women are having a moment, and what it means for this year’s election.
Women who don’t have children seem to be one of the most contentious topics for this year’s election. As a childfree woman (and the guardian of several cats), I’ve been paying close attention to the way the conservative politicians speak about women like me — since apparently our vote is unimportant to them.
Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s comments about revoking the right to vote from people who aren’t parents and criticizing “childless cat women” were simultaneously amusing and horrifying — it truly speaks to how some Republican men view women as mere incubators for their future supporters.
The best response to Vance’s comment about childless cat women had to be Taylor Swift’s clapback on Instagram, in which she endorsed Kamala Harris and signs off her post with “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady” just before sweeping the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. To date, her post has over 11 million likes — but perhaps more impressively, it resulted in an notable uptick of voter registrations.
