What Is "What Is A Woman?"

a review of the new Daily Wire documentary

Logo of the Daily Wire’s new documentary, “What Is A Woman?”

Who/What/When/Where/Why

The Daily Wire is a conservative media company. I am a member of the Daily Wire (despite being classically liberal by any sane definition of political affiliation). Last September, when President Biden announced that American companies would be required to institute vaccine mandates, the Daily Wire announced that they would refuse to comply. They had standing to sue, as an employer of sufficient size, and I joined the night they announced that they would sue and refuse to comply, in order to support their efforts.

Matt Walsh is one of their podcast hosts. I enjoy his show about two-thirds of the time. (The rest of the time, his sense of humor grates on me.) In particular, I appreciate his Socratic approach, exposing the conflicts in modern gender ideology by applying basic standards of logic and rigor, like refusing to accept circular definitions.

He spent a year traveling the world asking people to answer the simple question, “What Is A Woman?” because their inability to answer in any coherent way reveals the insanity at the heart of modern gender ideology.

“A woman is a person who identifies as a woman,” is the answer he got the most often. He never accepts this, asking in follow up, “What are they identifying as?” and “What is that?” when his interlocutors continue to repeat, “A person who identifies as a woman.” Nobody ever gives a coherent answer.

The resulting documentary, “What Is A Woman?” was released June 1—yes, to coincide with Pride Month.

The One Near-Criticism

What I find grating, at times, about his podcast appears in this documentary as well—the troll with a healthy dose of asshole in Walsh is much, much better controlled in the documentary than on his podcast, but bubbling underneath the surface the whole time. (The trolling-but-not-really-trolling-but-also-yeah-trolling aspect of Walsh’s persona, in part revealed by the choice of release date, is part of the one-third of the time that I find him hard to take.)

I was pleasantly surprised that this does not interfere with enjoying the documentary. A few highlights:

The Obvious Villains

The usual suspects appear to defend modern gender practices, including a transgender surgeon who describes the “transabled” community (people who believe that their healthy bodies are in error; they “should have been” disabled) as “kooky,” seemingly without irony or self-awareness.

The college professor Walsh interviews, who pronounces the concept of truth to be “deeply transphobic,” as well as “condescending and rude” was the best example of how far gone academia is that I’ve ever seen. Remember: people are going into six-figure debt to get master’s degrees to be qualified to say what this lunatic says and be taken seriously, including by the current United States government. And most degrees require exposure to this bullshit as a core education requirement (mine did; I majored in mathematics).

The Hero

Scott Newgent, a transman (female who transitioned to live as and appear to be male) who has devoted his life to fighting the influence of gender ideology on children, has a long segment, absolutely heartbreaking in its clarity.

The Hidden Villains

Alfred Kinsey and John Money are discussed briefly. I encourage everyone to look into the crimes of these men and how their pedophilic and other evil tendencies continue to influence gender ideology today. Their work is at the root of sex ed in public schools.

The Humbling

He tackles the "the sex binary is white Western bullshit" argument by going to Nairobi and being with an actual African tribe, the Maasai, and asking them about these things. The tribal elder says: "If you want to become a lady and you are a man, you have something wrong in your mind or something wrong in your family."

Listening to all these men from the Maasai laughing their asses off at the story of how stupid the Americans have gotten is both validating—the truth is still true!—and very, very humbling.

The People on the Street

There are quite a few “man on the street” interviews, with people who refuse to name obvious reality, including one who pretends to accept that she may not exist if Walsh asserts that she does not. The idea that the “transgender community” are powerless and marginalized is utterly murdered by how cowed these ordinary people are to speak any truth that might potentially reflect on the claims of gender ideology.

The Magnificent Ending

At the end, Walsh is encouraged, by Dr. Jordan Peterson, to ask his wife the titular question. So he does. The set-up is hilarious, a troll within a troll within a troll. Mrs. Walsh is standing in their kitchen making a sandwich (yes, really, LMAO) when Matt asks her. She looks at him in a way that somehow communicates exasperation, amusement, love, patience, and impatience all at once, and answers: “An adult human female.” Mrs. Walsh pauses to let the simplicity of the truth sink in, and then puts him to work: “who needs help opening this,” handing him a jar.

Matt’s responding look is priceless; he traveled the world asking everyone else this question. His wife had an answer of three words, the simplicity of truth found in recognizing and naming reality. The rest of Western civilization has gone insane, but his home and family are still based in what is real.

He smiles, and it seems to be a moment of genuine humility for him; the first moment from him that feels emotionally authentic. He’s being real, experiencing gratitude and love, not just trying to make his points (necessary and important though they are).

The ending is humanizing, funny, and adorable; the director deserves major kudos.

Conclusion

“What Is A Woman?” is powerful, funny, and very well-done. I highly recommend it. Join, give it a watch and see what you think.