A strong theme pervaded the fourth National Conservatism Conference this year, wrote Sarah Jones for New York Magazine's "Intelligencer" on Thursday — and that is the restrictive vision they have for women in society.
This comes after a number of speeches at the conference stirred controversy, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) -- whose wife recently tried to defend an 1870s federal anti-contraception law at the Supreme Court as a means of outlawing abortion medication around the country -- proclaiming that he is a proud advocate for Christian nationalism.
Another controversial speech came from Chris DeMuth of the Heritage Foundation — the group crafting the Project 2025 agenda laying out how Trump can reshape the government into right-wing authoritarianism — stating that "the new mainstream" is faith, family, and fertility, the antidote to our “atomized, feminized, self-absorbed culture.”
"Anti-feminism is key to the natcon project, then, and so are women. Someone has to birth all the babies," wrote Jones. "Though such a fixation is hardly new on the right, it helps distinguish today’s natcons from their peers. Natcons see themselves as defenders of faith and folk in opposition not just to the left, but to the more mainstream right. They’re the fringe, for now, but several panelists worked in the Trump White House and could return should he win re-election. Trump may want to distance himself from Project 2025, but natcons have embraced it."
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Underscoring this point, Jones wrote, is that Liberty University, the far-right institution in Lynchburg, Virginia that was recently roiled by the sex scandal of its former chief Jerry Falwell Jr., handed out stickers proclaiming "Biblical Femininity, Not Feminism."
One of the women at the conference who laid out all of this was Rachel Bovard, a seasoned operative for the Conservative Partnership Institute — who highlighted how her most important role at the moment was taking care of her newborn.
"As abortion access vanishes in much of the country, motherhood is not a choice but a trap for many, and it’s conservative women who have sprung the trap shut," Jones wrote. "Total victory eludes them still, but their goals are swimming into focus. At NatCon 4, it was obvious: A woman should be a nursemaid at home. There, she cares for her own children — unless she’s a scold, out there telling everyone else what to do."
