J.D. Vance Made The Mistake Of Coming For "Post-Menopausal Females," And I Love How We're Responding

Welp, in news that will surprise no one, Republican vice presidential candidate and noted critic of "childless cat ladies" J.D. Vance has once again said something really weird about women.

In newly uncovered comments on a 2020 podcast, Vance seemingly agreed when the host said that taking care of grandchildren is "the whole purpose of the post-menopausal female."

Twitter: @TheTNHoller

The comments aren't totally ungrounded, but they're still way off-base. There's a theory about menopause dating back to the 1950s called the grandmother hypothesis ("hypothesis" being the key word here). It posits that menopause evolved so that older women could maintain better health as they aged by no longer bearing children. When the child-bearing years end, the theory suggests that our ancestors put their energy into helping their communities flourish by doing things like helping to raise their grandkids.

However, recent research into menopause in our closest animal relative, the chimpanzee, has poked holes in this idea because chimp grandmothers don't engage in this behavior. Plus, other research suggests that in our hunter-gatherer past, grandmothers were actually some of the most skilled hunters providing for their families, not mere babysitters. So, the grandmother hypothesis remains merely a hypothesis, not an established scientific fact.

And then there's the phrasing. He could have said something perfectly normal, like, "Having grandparents around is so beneficial for kids, including in my own family." That would have been fine. Instead, the host had to talk about "post-menopausal females" in a way that sounded like he was about to reach for his calipers to measure some poor woman's brain pan.

There's another layer to the conversation comments that's even worse. In the clip, Vance praises his mother-in-law for taking a year off work to help raise his kids. I'm absolutely not criticizing her or his family for doing this. It's very admirable of her to have made this sacrifice.

Twitter: @dburbach

The problem is that being able to take a year off work to take care of family (or retire altogether) is an enormous privilege that few Americans of any age can afford. Given that the average age of menopause in the US is 51 (and some, like me, get there as early as their 30s), many regular American women continue to work well past menopause because we simply have to in order to survive. It's just not practical to expect us to give up our careers to serve as unpaid domestic labor.

Thankfully, women (and especially post-menopausal women) are taking to the internet to show Vance that we exist for so much more. Here are some of the best reactions from menopausal women on Reddit putting him in his weird little place:

1."Never imagined a politician could be more punchable than Ted Cruz yet here we are."

2."Not any more interested in being a Tradgranny than I was being a Tradwife."

—u/LeiasLegacy

3."I’m working on making better treatments for cancer. Am I meant to retire when I hit menopause in the next year or so? How about we give people shorter work days every day so that parents aren’t as overwhelmed and their 'villages' actually have some time and energy to help those who want it."

—u/msjammies73

4."I wonder what he thinks the purpose of men ages 50+ is?"

5."I'm currently going back to school to start a new career in AI ethics and oversight to save us from being ruled by cruel robot overlords running everything. I'm going to be fighting the Matrix, and this little pipsqueak wants me to retire and do more free labor?!?"

—u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606

6."My thoughts are with the women who will never be grandmothers because they’ll never be mothers because they lost their ability to have children because Vance and his party are doing their best to ensure that women are treated like uteruses with legs whose life and health are irrelevant as compared with any fetus they carry, including dead and dying fetuses who are forbidden to be treated, leading to women becoming infertile or dead or too traumatized to try again."

—u/bettinafairchild

7."Waaaaaaaa! My kids aren't having babies, and now I have no purpose! Oh, wait. I finally get to have my own fucking life! Never mind..."

8."My kids are grown, and I have no grandchildren and likely never will. I'm fine with that. I'm devoting my extra time, energy, and resources to volunteering and donating to make sure a-holes like Vance aren't elected. THAT is the purpose of a postmenopausal female — holding men accountable for their crappy behavior since we no longer give two shits what they think of us."

—u/kwk1231

9."If the production and care of children is the only point of a human life, a lot of men could just die right after mating, like drone bees. I eagerly await a time where I don’t have to hear his thoughts on anything ever again."

—u/casade7gatos

10."He’s wrong about that being our whole purpose! We can also train the rookie handmaids."

11."Well damn. If my kids don’t procreate soon, I guess I’ll just wander out to pasture."

—u/DifficultWolverine31

12."Honestly I’m surprised he thinks we have any purpose at all and didn’t suggest we be rounded up and put out of our misery."

—u/Select_Locksmith5894

13."These GOP men never have any understanding of female anatomy or biology but insist on trying to control their bodies."

14."Why does erectile dysfunction exist? Men’s sperm also deteriorates, so we should get rid of Viagra. 'God'/evolution doesn’t want older men to be ejaculating. Instead, it’s older men who should help raise their grandchildren, 😂😂."

—u/FLmom67

15.And finally, "Let me help you out, J.D. Wank — 'the whole purpose of the post-menopausal female is to BECOME THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED F-ING STATES!'"