On her show, Brown often talks about balancing her career as a political commentator with parenting her young daughter. Her reflections on Ballerini raise a question—who, exactly, are the “horrifying” feminist voices telling women that they shouldn’t have children? The assumption only makes sense under a conservative framework that, as Guardian columnist Moira Donegan recently explained, uses “feminism” not as a term to describe “a set of political commitments or ideals,” but as a synonym for “women.”
In discussing the Economist article, Brown also read a line from the story that mentioned JD Vance’s 2021 comment criticizing Democrats for being “childless cat ladies.” After quoting the sentence, Brown said, “I don’t know that that has as much to do with politics so much as it has to do with miserable, angry millennial feminists trying to drag us all down into the pit of their despair.”
To Brown, the message of Ballerini’s song is clear: “It starts with personal responsibility, 100%, and realizing that you don’t have the luxury of just being loose and wild and crazy and free throughout your 20s,” the YouTuber said. “Your 20s are not meant to be wasted; your 20s are meant to be lived. But it starts, first and foremost, through that personal responsibility, with choosing the right person to spend your life with.” She added that many Gen Z men have said that getting married and having children is their number one priority.
For Ballerini, things are a little hazier. Earlier this week, she shared a TikTok video to thank her fans for supporting the song, explaining in more detail her thoughts about pursuing her career. “How lucky am I that this is my life and that this is a dream that I’ve chosen and that I’ve pursued and, like, put my whole life into?” she said. “One thing I really have never written about is jealousy and, like, longing. And I think that was the first time that I was like, Oh wow. I am having a moment of being so grateful and so damn jealous. Just…asking my question, like, can I have it all? I don’t know.”
