American women are being asked to choose between two competing visions: common sense grounded in reality, or a political ideology driven by outrage, contradiction and emotion.
Consider Sydney Sweeney. She appeared in a playful American Eagle campaign built around a “great jeans” pun. Some progressive commentators responded by accusing the ad of promoting racism, eugenics and harmful beauty standards because a blonde actress modeled jeans and looked attractive doing it. The outrage was never as widespread as partisan social media suggested, but the criticism was real and absurd enough to become national news.
Then comedian Shane Gillis joked that some women dress indecently at the gym. His wording was crude, and nobody must applaud it. But the cultural left erupted over the supposed policing of women’s bodies.
So, which is it? Is a woman empowered when she shows her body, or exploited? Is beauty something to celebrate, or evidence of oppression? The answer apparently depends on who is speaking, who is offended and which position is politically convenient that day.
...
That same confusion now defines the Democratic approach to womanhood itself. For generations, feminists fought to ensure that women would not be defined, displaced or silenced by men. Today, too many progressive activists insist that the biological meaning of “woman” must be erased whenever it conflicts with gender identity ideology.
The consequences are not theoretical. Title IX created opportunities for women and girls to compete, earn scholarships and receive recognition on a fair playing field. Yet 206 House Democrats voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in 2025, while every voting Republican supported it.
Payton McNabb knows what is at stake. She testified before Congress that she suffered a traumatic brain injury, brain bleeding and partial paralysis after a male athlete competing on a girls’ volleyball team spiked a ball into her head. Compassion should never require us to deny biology, sacrifice fairness or place another girl in danger.
The same upside-down priorities appear at the border. Democrats spent years treating border enforcement as cruelty while Americans such as Laken Riley and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray became victims of men who entered this country illegally. Riley’s killer was convicted; two Venezuelan nationals were charged in Nungaray’s killing.
Every innocent life matters, regardless of citizenship. But the first responsibility of the American government is to protect the American people. It is not hatred to secure the border, nor is it extremism to deport dangerous criminals. Both are basic duties of a sovereign nation.
Accountability matters in Congress, too. Federal agents recently searched Representative Ilhan Omar’s home under a judicially authorized warrant connected to an ongoing criminal investigation. Democratic leaders immediately called the search an “abuse of power” and political weaponization. Omar denies wrongdoing and has not been charged.
But where was that indignation when the FBI descended on Mar-a-Lago and searched President Donald Trump’s home? Afterward, Hakeem Jeffries declared that “no one is above the law,” while Katherine Clark defended the operation because a federal judge had approved the warrant. Both politicians have joined other Democratic leaders to condemn the Omar search.
No one should be presumed guilty merely because a warrant was executed. But Democrats cannot call a judicially approved search “accountability” when the target is Trump and “authoritarianism” when the target is one of their own. That is not equal justice.
Democrats no longer offer women a coherent platform. They offer a collection of shifting grievances. They celebrate sexual expression in one moment and condemn it in the next. They claim to defend women while refusing to define one. They invoke Title IX while undermining the fairness it was created to protect. They express endless concern for those entering illegally while dismissing Americans who pay the price for failed enforcement.
Republicans offer women voters something far less complicated: Women exist. Biology matters. Borders matter. The Constitution and rule of law matters. Safety matters. Fairness matters. America’s leaders should put Americans first.
These ideas are common sense, and common sense is on the ballot.
Nikki Beaver is national political and communications director at the National Federation of Republican Women.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.