When US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) recently took aim at Elon Musk and Donald’s Trump’s petty demise, telling reporters, “The girls are fighting,” it didn’t take long for the backlash to follow. But it wasn’t AOC’s typical critics (ie: old, right-wing men) taking aim, but a chorus of outraged women.
After all, how could AOC, a trailblazer for equal rights, be so blatantly “anti-feminist”?
But to understand what AOC was actually doing, we need to understand the culture she’s speaking from, and to.
“The girls are fighting” isn’t some outdated dig at women weaponised to bring other women down. It’s queer vernacular (originating in part from a viral Azealia Banks clip) and more importantly, it’s irony.
It’s a phrase that’s become a wink; used to describe over-the-top drama, online beefs, and geopolitical tension often between men.
In this context, the very ugly and public spat between Musk and Trump resembles the kind of behaviour women have long been accused of and punished for. In effect, it exposes the hypocrisy.
When AOC uses it to mock Trump and Musk, two of the most fragile egos ever seen in public life, she’s not attacking women. She’s flipping the script and holding a mirror up to the ridiculousness of what “strong man leadership” really is and how deficient and dangerous it’s become.
Meanwhile, while we’re dealing with the insanity of Trump and his cronies, it’s women and girls around the world who are doing the heavy lifting and stepping up where institutions are failing.
In Finland, Sanna Marin became the world’s youngest Prime Minister and led a calm, cohesive COVID response. In New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern’s compassionate leadership redefined what strength looks like. In Iran, young women are risking everything for basic rights. In Gaza, Palestinian women are holding their communities together amid unimaginable trauma. In Australia, it’s young women who are most noticeably leading the charge against climate change.
And while it’s true that phrases like “You play like a girl” and “catfight” have long been used to belittle and diminish women, it is also true that words evolve. “You play like a girl” was once an insult, now, thanks to feminist campaigns and sporting heroes, it’s more often a battle cry.
Language changes and power shifts when we reclaim these words. It doesn’t weaken feminism, it sharpens it. And it also broadens it. Because feminism isn’t reserved for the privileged or the palatable. It’s not just for white women in boardrooms. It’s about equity for everyone. And to suggest that a phrase rooted in Black and queer vernacular is “anti-feminist” is to reveal a narrow and (frankly problematic) understanding of what feminism is and who it’s for.
AOC is part of this change. She knows how to command attention without succumbing to performative rage. She’s not above humour. She’s not afraid of culture. And she knows how to weaponise language in ways that land.
And given that “the girls are fighting” is still hot in the headlines, I’d say she successfully smashed the brief.