A woman according to Rep. Madison Cawthorn: 'XX chromosomes, no tallywhacker'

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) defined a woman as a person with "XX chromosomes" and "no tallywhacker" during a speech on the House floor Monday, The Guardian reports.

"Madame Speaker," Cawthorn began, "the left has ripped away the pen of truth from the Author of Life." (Cawthorn describes himself as a devout Christian and frequently includes biblical references in his speeches.) "They're exchanged natural science for a party platform and declared war on biology," he continued. "You can't even define what a woman is! You might amend a bill, but you'll never amend biology."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Cawthorn's comments come two weeks after Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson told Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) she would not provide a definition of a woman because she is "not a biologist."

Cawthorn made headlines last week when he accused D.C. inviting him to orgies and using cocaine in front of him, allegations he later admitted had almost no basis in reality.

Explore More

Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.