Since transitioning to a woman a year ago, TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney has become one of the most recognizable and vocal activists in the trans movement. Mulvaney’s “Days of Girlhood” TikTok series led to partnerships with brands like Ulta Beauty, trips to the White House to speak with President Joe Biden, and letters from Vice President Kamala Harris congratulating her on “365 days of girlhood.”
During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show this week in acknowledgment of the one-year milestone, Drew Barrymore got down on her hands and knees when addressing Mulvaney. On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Charles C.W. Cooke and Madeleine Kearns of National Review to discuss Barrymore’s bizarre behavior and what it means for biological women.
Drew Barrymore Bows Down
Upon welcoming Mulvaney to the program, Barrymore gushed about getting the chance to meet the activist. “I am honored and thrilled to meet you,” she began. “I really am. This is – it’s very personal for me.” The actress went on to say that she admired Mulvaney’s “risk” and “bravery” in “a world where we’re all trying to figure out who we’re supposed to be.”
At one point, the interview turned to how Mulvaney deals with adversity. “It’s interesting because I look at someone like you, and I can’t imagine anybody disliking you,” she said to Barrymore, which is what led the host to move from the chair to her knees as the audience laughed uncomfortably. “Oh, please,” she said. “Do you know – do you want to know, ironically, who dislikes me the most sometimes? Myself.” Mulvaney agreed and embraced Barrymore, joining her on the floor.
Ultimately, the two finished the conversation there. “I’m sorry, I just realized that I’m sitting on the floor with Drew,” Mulvaney said excitedly. Barrymore then thanked the activist for sitting with her. “I’m just happy to be doing this,” she said. “Thank you for joining me on the floor. The floor always feels safer.”
Megyn was dumbfounded by the behavior. “It was so cringy,” she said. “This is an actress. Drew Barrymore is acting, and what was she acting the part of? Woke, weak, white woman praying at the transgender altar. That’s her part in this particular role.”
Whether it was an act or not, the optics weren’t good. “Maybe I should do the next presidential debate from the floor; perhaps I should have been sitting on the floor when I asked Trump or any of these other guys tough questions. How weak is she,” Megyn asked. “Where are the strong women?… What is it? False strength by showing every weakness coming out of your pores. And it may all be an affectation, which makes it even more insulting!”
What Is a Woman?
As Megyn explained, what made the clip controversial is that “Drew Barrymore got down on her knees and seemed to be praying at the transgender altar of Dylan Mulvaney, which, as an image, encapsulates a lot of what is driving actual biological women nuts about this whole evolution.” As a result of the “evolution,” trans women are “coming into our locker rooms and our sports and our bathrooms and our colleges and so on and taking over,” Megyn continued. “We as women are expected to take the knee and just be thankful and say, ‘We appreciate what you’re doing to us’ and anything else means you’re a bigot.”
Kearns also took issue with the way Mulvaney represents womanhood. “What I see when I look at that clip is a man dressed like a Barbie doll, and a woman bowing before this man dressed as a Barbie doll,” she said. “There was a time in feminism where people said, ‘Oh, we need to get away from these stereotypes. There’s much more to being a woman than being a Barbie doll.’ I can get on board with that. That sounds reasonable to me.”
Instead, we’ve regressed. “This is the pinnacle of being an authentic female, and we’re supposed to get on our knees,” she asked. “It’s just so obviously sexist, and it’s ridiculous as well that Drew Barrymore thinks that this is what the cultural movement calls for.”
Cooke agreed, likening the ensemble to the pinup-style outfit Caitlin Jenner wore on the cover of Vanity Fair to announce her transition. “It’s a man in a dress who is trying to emulate the most stereotypical conception of a woman imaginable,” he lamented. “It’s a weird reinforcement of stereotypes that many feminists spent a long time – with good reason, I think – trying to get rid of.”
You can check out Megyn’s full show with Cooke and Kearns by tuning in to episode 512 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.