Submit and Suffer? The Trump Administration’s Two-Front War on Women

Let the sheer, infuriating absurdity of this sink in: At the same time President Punk’s handpicked White House “Faith Advisor,” televangelist Paula White, is spewing regressive nonsense about how women must “submit” to men, his administration is actively gutting a landmark federal project essential for understanding and safeguarding women’s actual physical health. It’s not just a coincidence; it’s a sickening two-front assault. While one arm of the administration preaches female subservience, another systematically dismantles the very science needed to keep women alive and well. If you’re feeling outraged, you damn well should be. This isn’t policy; it’s a pattern, a blatant display of contempt for women’s autonomy, health, and fundamental equality, woven into the fabric of broader attacks on diversity and bodily rights.

First, let’s look at the ideological poison being dripped from on high. Paula White, installed in the constitutionally questionable White House Faith Office, had the audacity to go on a right-wing channel and declare it “exciting” that men are returning to church to become the “bedrock.” Her prescription? Submission. “The head of my household is my husband,” she proclaimed, adding with insulting ease, “It’s not hard to submit.” She even justified her own prominent role by claiming it was only “by default, because two men failed” – reinforcing the very patriarchal garbage she’s peddling. Having someone with this backward worldview, who hawks pay-for-miracles televangelism on the side (as Rachel Maddow exposed), speaking with the implied authority of the White House is an egregious insult to every woman striving for equality. It’s an attempt to normalize subservience, straight from the top.

But while White preaches submission, the administration acts with brute force against women’s physical well-being. Witness the callous dismantling of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), reported by NPR. This wasn’t some frivolous project; it was a decades-long, federally funded imperative launched specifically because medicine had ignored women for far too long. The WHI produced critical, life-saving discoveries about hormone therapy, vitamins, cancer, and osteoporosis – knowledge essential to women’s lives. It was still gathering invaluable data on aging women, tackling dementia, heart failure, and frailty issues supposedly prioritized by HHS leadership.

And yet, the Punk administration, through HHS and likely driven by the cost-slashing frenzy of Muskrat’s DOGE, abruptly terminated the contracts for all the regional centers collecting this irreplaceable data from tens of thousands of women. “It’s a huge loss,” one leader said, barely containing the shock. “Devastating,” said another from Harvard. “Eviscerated,” declared a third. This isn’t just cutting a budget; it’s a deliberate act of sabotage against women’s health knowledge. It’s throwing decades of research, countless volunteer hours from participants, and a priceless biorepository of samples into jeopardy, effectively saying, “We choose not to know about women’s health anymore.” The sheer contempt is staggering.

Don’t dare think these are separate issues. They are intrinsically linked. One front pushes an ideology demanding women shrink themselves, stay in their place, and submit. The other front actively removes the scientific tools needed to understand, protect, and empower women’s physical lives. It’s a pincer movement. And it fits perfectly within the administration’s broader war on progress. The relentless attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives? Those overwhelmingly impact gains made by women and minorities. The vicious legislative assaults on LGBTQIA+ people, especially transgender individuals? Those are direct attacks on bodily autonomy, self-determination, and the very concept of gender existing outside rigid, patriarchal boxes. It’s all part of the same disgusting playbook.

Let’s be crystal clear about what the government’s role should be regarding anyone’s body or gender: ensuring equitable access to all healthcare options and information, period. Protecting autonomy, providing resources, fostering knowledge – that’s the job. Instead, this administration seems hell-bent on doing the exact opposite: promoting ideologies of control, gutting vital health research specifically benefiting women, and enacting policies that actively endanger marginalized genders. It’s not just negligence; it’s governance actively working against the well-being of more than half the population.

So yes, the outrage women are feeling is justified. It’s infuriating. This isn’t just a policy disagreement; it feels like a deliberate regression, an attempt to drag women back decades, both ideologically and medically. From the pulpit of power preaching submission, to the bureaucratic decision gutting essential research, the message is clear, and it’s alarming. Recognizing this pattern, calling it out, and fiercely resisting this backward slide isn’t just necessary – it’s essential for survival.