Trump’s Anti-DEI Executive Order Is a Love Letter to the 1950s Misogynists Who Want Women Barefoot, Pregnant, and Silent

And that's BEFORE we get to the anti-Queer and anti-POC bullshit.

I don’t know. I’ve been pulling my punches lately. My content has felt…flat. A little to polite, like I thought that it would benefit my career to just be more unbiased and analytical in my discussions of the absolute bullshit that’s going on in America and all the bullshit that came before in American history.

And that’s bullshit.

So let’s take this substack back to it’s roots and get…bitchy.

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In 1956, Father Knows Best aired an episode called “Betty, Girl Engineer.” The message wasn’t subtle. Women might have dreams, but shut up, sweetheart, the kitchen’s that way.

Betty Anderson, a bright and ambitious teenager, wants to be an engineer. Her family laughs in her face. Her mother all but disowns her for daring to dream beyond marriage and babies. The men around her are downright offended at the audacity of a woman wanting to do a “man’s job.” The lead engineer sneers, “The male has his job, the female has hers—don’t confuse them.” And, because this is 1950s television, Betty caves. She abandons engineering and heads off on a real adventure—dating the condescending douchebag who belittled her.

This is the America that conservative leaders are desperate to bring back. And they aren’t just whispering about it in their cigar lounges—they’re making it policy.

The 2020s Are Looking a Lot Like the 1950s—And That’s Not an Accident

At the 2021 National Conservatism Conference, Boise State professor Scott Yenor, sounding like he time-traveled from a 1950s frat house, declared that women should not be encouraged to pursue careers in engineering. Nope, our job is to crank out babies and cater to our husbands’ every whim. “If we want a great nation,” he declared, “we should be preparing young women to become mothers.” Translation? Forget STEM degrees, girls, we’ve got diapers for you to change.

He’s not alone. Former Texas House candidate Jeff Younger went full mask-off and admitted that women’s suffrage was a mistake because—gasp!—it made the country too progressive. Missouri Senate candidate Courtland Sykes, meanwhile, whined that he expects his future wife to have dinner on the table when he gets home, and that his daughters better grow up to be “traditional homemakers.”

These are not fringe lunatics screaming into the void. These are the people shaping actual policy. And they have a plan.

From Rhetoric to Reality: How Conservatives Are Shoving Women Back Into the Kitchen

Misogyny is now actively a part of the legislative agenda.

Trump’s executive order obliterated federal DEI programs in 2025, gutting initiatives that helped women and minorities break into STEM fields. One of the first casualties? Ashley Hall’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day—canceled, because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers didn’t want to risk violating the new anti-DEI rules. NASA and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute also scaled back diversity programs, because apparently, helping women enter STEM is now woke propaganda.

This isn’t new, Republicans in red states have been gleefully hacking away at every policy that makes women financially independent for years. In Utah, GOP officials blocked a pay disparity study because, in their words, men should earn more—because they’re the “breadwinners.” In Idaho, lawmakers sabotaged childcare funding, arguing that moms should just stay home instead of pursuing careers. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, which claimed that “With Starbucks’ discriminatory patterns, practices, and policies, Missouri’s consumers are required to pay higher prices and wait longer for goods and services that could be provided for less had Starbucks employed the most qualified workers, regardless of their race, color, sex, or national origin.”

That’s right everyone. White men are more qualified at everything, including making coffee. Obviously hiring women or people of color makes Starbucks give poor service.

But while backwater red states doing this isn’t new, this vibe being a part of the Federal Government is a pretty recent development for the 21st century. Trump’s anti-DEI initiatives are leading to all kinds of insane behavior in government institutions, like NASA being asked to scrub ‘Women in Leadership’ (among other “woke” terms) from their websites and military websites removing information about the history of women in the military.

Let’s be very clear: this is not about “family values.” It’s about making it impossible for women to choose anything other than financial dependence on men.

And, of course, the most efficient way to strip women of control? Take away their bodily autonomy. Abortion bans. Birth control restrictions. Forced motherhood. Idaho’s Charlie Shepherd didn’t even bother with a dog whistle—he straight-up said he opposed childcare funding because it made it easier for moms to work outside the home. The cruelty isn’t a bug, it’s the whole damn point.

This Is Not Just Policy—It’s a War on Women’s Future

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint lays it all out. They aren’t just trying to erase feminism; they’re trying to legally enforce a 1950s-style society.

• They want schools to de-prioritize career training for women and emphasize early marriage and child-rearing instead.

• They want to defund programs that support single mothers and working women.

• They want to push a “pro-woman feminism” that looks an awful lot like a glorified 1950s housewife fantasy.

And if you think this stops with women, think again. Project 2025 also proposes policies that would allow religious groups to deny services to LGBTQ+ families and eliminate funding for “alternative family structures.” Because the ultimate goal isn’t just keeping women in their place—it’s ensuring that men maintain absolute control over society.

This Is Not Inevitable—But We Have to Fight Like Hell

If conservatives get their way, the future won’t be just a reboot of the 1950s—it’ll be a government-mandated reenactment. This is not about “respecting tradition” or “honoring family values.” It’s about power. It’s about making sure women can’t compete in the workforce, can’t control their own bodies, and can’t make their own damn choices.

In Father Knows Best, Betty Anderson gave up. She surrendered her dreams because the world told her they weren’t worth fighting for.

We don’t have to do the same.

We will not go quietly. We will not be erased. And we sure as hell will not be taking career advice from men who think “make me a sandwich” is a personality trait.

We are not returning to 1956.

And to the men who want us too, just so they can succeed as the mediocre small-dicked men that they are…