Senator Katie Britt and XOXOXO for the Patriarchy
Displays of power from the kitchen table
It’s been a week and a half since Alabama Senator Katie Britt reminded America that we’re all soaked in the blood of patriots. Given that, it’s amazing she can keep her kitchen so sparkling clean!
Sen. Britt’s Republican response to the State of the Union address was splashed with dichotomies: eerie swings from cheer to near tears, a U.S. senator relegated to her kitchen for a national address, claims hers is the party that supports IVF, a horrific story of sexual assault laid at the feet of President Biden (that took place during former President George W. Bush’s administration). She introduced herself as a senator but said her more important roles were as a wife and mother. She was positioned in power and used soft qualification to justify reasons to listen to her.
Last week, I published a piece with Newsweek, which you are welcome to read.
I focused on Britt’s delivery, the childlike tone she put on like a drape of honey and domesticity. I’m far from the right person to police other people’s voices — I live with spasmodic dysphonia — but this isn’t a matter of her given voice. Britt, like many women in evangelical communities, knows how to put on a gentle, childlike or baby voice to show alignment with an assigned…
