Lauren Boebert's divorce exposes the dark little secret of red state life

Lauren Boebert's divorce exposes the dark little secret of red state life
Lauren Boebert's divorce is funny — it also reveals why GOP men are doubling down on the misogyny

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MAY 18, 2023 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) When so much Republican behavior these days is too gross to be funny, there's something downright refreshing about old-fashioned Christian right hypocrisy. This time, it comes from Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a biological human being who nonetheless sounds exactly like ChatGPT channeling a Breitbart comment section. Boebert built her career on sanctimonious, though often incoherent, lectures on the supposed threats to the family of leftist sexual "depravities" like same-sex marriage or contraception use. She also filed for divorce last month, a fact that only got into the press this week. This follows other comical examples of Boebert's "family values," such as celebrating teen pregnancy or standing by her now-to-be ex-husband after he exposed himself to teen girls in a bowling alley.

Her choice to leave Jayson Boebert might be the first sign that there's functioning brain activity in Lauren Boebert's skull. As the bowling alley story suggests, the guy is a creep. He started dating then-Lauren Roberts when she was 16 and he was 22 years old. She dropped out of high school to give birth to their first child at 18. They got married two years later. During this time, he was arrested on domestic violence charges after a fight with her. In August, he was still at it, getting the cops called on him for reportedly threatening neighbors.

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This story is tasty gossip. But it's also a window into an aspect of red state life that hasn't been much discussed, one which is likely fueling the ugly surge in misogynist rhetoric and policy being pushed by Republicans, especially the men. The dark little secret of red state life is there's a lot of Lauren Boeberts out there: Conservative women who disavow feminism, but, when given a shot at more independence for themselves, gladly use hard-won rights like divorce and abortion. Republican men are getting increasingly angry about even this minor loss of control over women.

The results are ugly. A sexual predator is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Abortion bans keep getting passed, despite being wildly unpopular. And now there's even a GOP push to make it harder for people — mostly women — to file for divorce.

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It's not just abortion, however. As Tessa Stuart at Rolling Stone reported, "Republicans across the country are now reconsidering no-fault divorce," even though it's been legal in most states for decades. State Republican parties are adding the repeal of no-fault divorce to their party platforms, and even the national party looked at the issue in 2016. (And probably would have taken it more seriously if their candidate, Donald Trump, wasn't twice-divorced.) The reason isn't mysterious: 70% of divorces in the U.S. are initiated by women. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/05/18/lauren-boeberts-divorce-exposes-the-dark-little-secret-of-red-state-life/