A Letter to Post Gender Columnist Monica Hesse about Her Article on Nick Fuentes’ “Your Body, My Choice” Taunt
Hesse's feminist bias prevents her from seeing that the Post's 2018 "Why can't we hate men?" op-ed is MUCH worse than Nick Fuentes' angry provocation
Dear Ms. Hesse,
As I have written multiple prior letters to you, I have little doubt that you’re aware of my efforts to challenge The Washington Post’s longstanding gender bias against men, provable by its imbalanced coverage of domestic violence1 and made undeniable by its 2018 publication of a repulsive op-ed, Why can't we hate men? 2
I respectfully ask that you take the time to read this letter about your recent column, Nick Fuentes and the expanding universe of unintended consequences, about the ultra-right wing zealot’s taunt to feminists, “Your body, my choice”.
In my prior letter to you, I disputed your misandrist characterization of the election of America’s first female mayor in 1887. In this letter I challenge you to recognize that you and the Post are guilty of a sexism that is much worse than that of Fuentes’.
Don’t get me wrong. Your opinion of Nick Fuentes can’t be any lower than my estimation of this repulsive bigot. In fact, when I initially read your article, I found myself mostly in agreement.
However …
That was until I read an online article by “anti-feminist” activist Janice Fiamengo, The Tweet that Launched a Thousand Quips.3 Her article examined the “feminist hysteria”4 caused by Fuentes’ taunt, essentially a mockery of pro-abortion advocates’ slogan, “my body, my choice”, and a “middle finger held up to feminists’ nauseating false pieties”.
She prominently included your article as an example of this woke meltdown over Fuentes’ public jeer and described your own dramatic overreaction:
Gender columnist Monica Hesse at the Washington Post was more dramatic, stating that “‘Your body, my choice. Forever’ is the tagline of a serial-killer movie, what the bad guy says to the coed before he handcuffs her to a drainpipe.” In case that sounded fantastical, Hesse stressed that Fuentes’ tweet was not fiction: “It’s an introduction to a hideous new reality, designed to menace, objectify and remove all sense of hope.” (We suggest that Hesse not give up her day job for a screenwriting career.) N.B. — the parenthesized sentence was part of Fiamengo’s quote.
Fiamengo also made note of your not discussing abortion, the ultimate target of Fuentes’ taunt:
“Deliberately omitted by Hesse and her feminist compatriots is any serious engagement with the reality of abortion, which most Americans find a complicated issue, and which 44% say is morally wrong most or all of the time. “My body, my choice” was always dishonest and manipulative, evading the fact that an unborn child’s body is distinct from the mother’s, having its own DNA and unique biological makeup. Objection to abortion is most often based on ethical principles and empathy for the unborn child, not hatred of women. As some commentators have pointed out, “Your body, my choice” IS the pro-abortion position.”
“Your body, my choice” IS the pro-abortion position.”
Ms. Hesse, your article is yet one more example of both your and The Washington Post’s extreme, feminist-inspired anti-male gender bias.
How is it possible for you to publicly complain about a rude taunt that mocks pro-abortion advocates’ slogan, “my body, my choice”, but completely turn a blind eye to the Post publishing an op-ed in 2018 that provided a platform for a radical feminist to broadcast to the world a Nazi-like hatred for men:
Do you think that by printing an article that by its very title must be considered “hate speech”, the Post falls short of the true spirit of its “Democracy Dies in Darkness” slogan? Wouldn’t you object if the article was titled “Why can’t we hate women?” or “Why can’t we hate blacks?”
OF COURSE YOU WOULD!
Then why is it that few – if any – of the Post’s management, columnists, and staff recognize this as hate speech? How is it possible that no one at the Post has ever objected to it?
MS. HESSE, WHEN WILL YOU OPEN YOUR EYES AND RAISE YOUR VOICE AGAINST THE POST’S ANTI-MALE GENDER BIGOTRY?
Sincerely,
Stephen Bond,
Publisher of "Letters to The Washington Post" Substack
This observation was confirmed by a February 2023 report by The Coalition to End Domestic Violence that described a 10-Year Suppression of the Truth on Domestic Violence by the Washington Post. For further evidence see Domestic Violence: Feminism’s Big Lie.
I’m repeating this standard opening for new readers who haven’t seen prior letters to you.
My guess is that, as the Post’s gender columnist, you must be aware of Ms. Fiamengo. If not, you really should read her story, The Making and Un-Making of a Feminist Radical, that describes her metamorphosis from a complete believer in feminism to an apostate who exposes feminism’s dark side on Substack and YouTube.
Thank you. Excellent letter. Great job standing up to leftist feminists.