Last semester, I was lying in bed scrolling through Instagram when I saw an advertisement for Young America’s Foundation, a conservative organization that provides resources, training, and speakers to colleges. It showed the opportunity to bring a speaker to Miami University.
I clicked on the link to see the options. Among the big names of the conservative movement, Isabel Brown stuck out to me.
While I had watched people like Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh since I was 15, they’re well … millennials. Brown is Generation Z. She speaks to us as an older part of our age group.
Brown came to Miami University on April 16, in Shideler Hall 152. Her topic touched on “the feminist lie,” which she described as individual autonomy that severs women from traditional roles and framing career and sexual liberation as the primary ways to fulfillment.
Brown’s topic stemmed from comments “The View” made about her remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late March.
“Get married and have more children than you can afford,” Brown said.
The talking heads on “The View” deemed her statement “reckless.” Whoopi Goldberg said Brown should be thoughtful before having children. Whitney Cummings mocked the idea that marriage requires courage.
Brown is 28 years old and is married with a one-year-old daughter named Isla.
“I never thought it would be punk rock to stand in a white dress at the altar and say ‘I do,’” Brown said. “Or be willing to bring new life into the world when everyone is screaming at you not to.”
She sees the family as the bedrock of national morality. I do too.
I’ve heard the “girlboss” narrative since I was a teenager. I wanted a successful career and a family, but when feminism became “Don’t have kids,” “Abortion is a woman’s right,” and “Trans women are women,” I shied away from identifying myself with feminism.
Feminism in America started as the advocacy for the right to vote. That aligns with how Brown and I define freedom: not the “ability to do whatever you want, but as one should,” Brown said.
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The clash between agency-based freedom and absolute autonomy marks my primary disconnection.
Modern feminism comes across as making any choice and not accepting the consequences. That’s “the feminist lie.” Women are convinced they can make decisions without long-term impact.
“As we’ve embraced this post-modern concept of freedom to mean we can just do anything we want, and there are no consequences whatsoever … sleeping with as many people as possible, ending the life of your baby, engaging in substance abuse … contributed to the single greatest mental health crisis the world has ever seen,” Brown said.
Brown described the alternative to modern feminism as not just rejecting it, but building something tested and tried.
“I am much more pro-creating new life than killing new life, because I think ultimately that is the biggest humanitarian crisis that any society has ever dealt with,” Brown said.
After the Q&A, I was in line for the photoshoot with Brown. The people running the event were in a hurry to stick to the time stamp. She was not.
I kept thinking to myself that while everything around her was moving fast, the light in her eyes caught me. She knew she had a flight to catch, but she received each person with warmth.
Two and a half months ago, I attended a different event where Brown was speaking. I couldn't meet her because I left early to avoid the big snowstorm on January 24. I had a drawing of her with the late Charlie Kirk, which I left with a staff member, uncertain if she would receive it.
This time, I brought a laminated copy. I showed it to her when it was my turn for pictures.
“Aw, my gosh — you drew this for me!” Brown said.
“So you got it?” I asked.
I raised my arms in excitement. Drew Belcher, Chairman of College Republicans, laughed as his fiancée filmed the scene.
“I have it on my dining room buffet,” Brown said. “I am so grateful, I’m going to try not to cry.”
Brown looked at the drawing of her and Kirk with reverence. This moment was sobered by Kirk’s death back in the fall, which still influences the atmosphere of conservative clubs on campuses.
Belcher acknowledged the risk of leading a right-wing student organization following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, especially when hosting conservative speakers.
“I think everyone who does it understands the risk is there,” Belcher said. “There’s tons of people out there who don’t like what we do, and in many cases think it’s okay to participate in violence.”
Belcher credits Miami for supporting free speech in allowing College Republicans to host speakers like Brown that create an open space for discourse.
“Somebody’s got to be a voice for the voiceless,” Belcher said.
Josie Zimmerman is a junior studying journalism and art therapy. She is involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, Bridges International, Students for Life, and MU Kababayan. She enjoys drawing and journaling in her free time.
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