Girl spaces and true camaraderie among women continue to be assaulted. In the age of “Real Housewives” and “Sister Wives,” our young ladies are being trained to pit themselves against each other, while certain cultural movements, such as changes to Title IX under the Biden administration, have further eroded their sisterhood.
Meanwhile, deluded young men who think they can become women work overtime to invade women’s spaces.
Thankfully, our federal and state representatives created bulwarks against this delusion by defining gender as only biological male and biological female. But the battles are still being waged, and in deep red Alabama, the battles have filtered into an event traditionally reserved for women.
Last week’s Hoover High School Beauty Walk was no exception.
“For 61 years, young ladies from Hoover High School have participated in the Hoover High School Beauty Walk sponsored by the senior class representatives within the Student Government Association,” 1819 News reported.
A young man applied to participate in this year’s event, acting in the belief that he can be a woman because he cosplays as one. He was ultimately denied entry. This is an area where “fake it till you make it” doesn’t work.
Yet not everyone saw it that way. “The school has consistently recognized and respected this in other areas — including allowing her to perform in guard wearing the same uniforms as the other female members rather than the costumes worn by male participants,” one individual noted on Facebook.
This is ultimately the school’s fault for allowing this schism. If the young man chooses to stay in Alabama, he will bump up against this reality repeatedly. If schools are supposed to help prepare children for the real world, this is more evidence that they are failing miserably.
Those speaking on behalf of the confused boy claimed they were “not seeking controversy for its own sake.” Instead, “We are asking for accountability and compassion so that no other child at Hoover High — or elsewhere — experiences this type of public rejection."
Rejection is a part of life, a harsh reality of being human no matter your gender identification. It gives us an opportunity to learn and grow. My hope is that this young man will grow out of his gender dysfunction before he allows himself to be mutilated.
School administrators teed up this mess, probably wanting to avoid appearing unaffirming to the student. Thus, it was ultimately placed on the shoulders of the SGA to say, “No.”
It does not appear that the Student Government Association (SGA) was being deliberately cruel or non-compassionate in refusing this young man’s participation. Instead, they were simply affirming reality.
“This is a victory. However, the administrators at Hoover High School should've stepped up and made this decision,” Allison Sinclair of Rightside Media said. “Not the students.”
I agree and disagree. Part of student government is to gain practice and experience in governmental bodies and decision-making that affects the local body – i.e., the students. These seniors are about to be launched into the world, so taking responsibility for this decision is not beyond the pale. Indeed, it provides good practice in negotiating and setting standards. The students did a better job than the school administrators, frankly. The adults were weighed in the balance and found wanting.
Thanks to the Trump administration, Title IX has been rolled back to its original intent of protecting the right of women and girls to have their own unique spaces. Alabama state laws are also protecting women, and any local administration could lean into this as their line of demarcation. Thus, Hoover High School administrators are complicit in setting this young man up for humiliation in the first place.
This is the time to give greater scrutiny to who is responsible for education administration in our schools. With each cultural shift, it becomes evident that administrations often have no intestinal fortitude or direction.
Another example of this is a “compromise” reached at James Clemens High School in Madison, Ala., where Principal Kerry Donaldson Jr. sent emails to students ahead of the planned nationwide walkouts to protest ICE enforcement saying that they could face disciplinary consequences if they left class to protest. The school should have held that line. Instead, they allowed students to participate in the protests as long as it was after school. This not only sends a mixed message, but it neuters any concept of authority or leadership.
Splitting the baby only gives you a dead baby.
Interestingly, save for 1819 News, the Hoover story barely emerged in the legacy media. This once was the type of story that the left would use to foment national outrage and get people screaming that “trans people are people” – a stupid phrase that is a poor attempt at syllogistic thought.
But the fact that this controversy rose no higher than a few local publications could be a sign that these cultural wars are reaching their end.
Let’s hope so.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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