By now, you’re all probably familiar with Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s super problematic commencement speech at Benedictine College, a conservative Catholic college. The tl;dr is that he thinks women belong in the kitchen with a baby (or two or three or four) on their hips, that we need to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men,” and that the LGBTQ community engages in “deadly sin.” This dude sounds like a real drag at parties. People had a lot to say about his terrible views. Even nuns took issue with it.
Given that a line from Taylor Swift’s “Bejeweled” was quoted during Butker’s address, I think people were anticipating what his teammate, Travis Kelce, would have to say about it. During the May 24 episode of their New Heights podcast, Travis and his big brother Jason stressed that while they disagreed with Butker’s views, they were unsurprised given the setting and maintained that at the end of the day, he’s entitled to his beliefs. Travis also stated that Butker is a nice person who treats people with respect. Jason agreed with Travis’ thoughts and stressed that “not everybody has to be a homemaker if that’s not what they want to do in life.” And while that may sound like a safe, noncontroversial comment, the Internet decided to call Jason a hypocrite because they consider his wife Kylie to be a homemaker (and a terrible one at that). So, Jason responded to one such comment to say that Kylie is no tradwife and that he and Kylie are “equals” in their marriage.
“I don’t think of Kylie as a homemaker, I think of her as my wife,” Jason explained on X, formerly known as Twitter, May 27. “I think of her as a mother. She has an occupation, as do I, and we keep our house the best we can. Our marriage is a partnership, we are equals who are figuring it out on the daily. The only expectation is that we love each other, support one another, and are committed to our family, that comes first.”
“We both raise our kids, we both work, we both keep our home,” he continued. “It is both our faults it is messy, but such is life with 3 young children, busy schedules, and neither of us being neat freaks. She also makes a mean sandwich.”
While clarifying how his and Kylie’s marriage works, he added that he doesn’t expect it to be the same for everyone.
“If being a homemaker, works for some, and that’s what they want, then hell yea, that’s awesome, more power to you,” he noted. “I want to be clear, I’m not downplaying that at all, but that is not our family dynamic.”
During the May 24 episode of Jason and younger brother Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, the brothers disagreed with Harrison’s sentiments but noted that everyone is entitled to their beliefs.
“Make no mistake about it, a lot of the things he said in his commencement speech are not things that I align myself with,” Jason—who shares daughters Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3, and Bennett, 15 months with Kylie—emphasized. “But, he’s giving a commencement speech at a Catholic university, and, shocker, it ended up being a very religious and Catholic speech.”
“To me,” the 36-year-old continued, “I can listen to somebody talk and take great value in it, like when he’s talking about the importance of family and the importance that a great mother can make, while also acknowledge that not everybody has to be a homemaker if that’s not what they want to do in life.”
Good for Jason for saying it loud and proud that he and Kylie are equal partners who are in it together. More men need to shout that out to drown out the voices of those right-wing trolls. Since the Tweet that Jason responded to is almost certainly a bot, I took a gander around his recent posts to see how much of a cesspool it was. While there were actual human posters defending Butker’s honor (eye roll) in the replies, there were a lot more people calling out their BS, which was nice to see. I can’t imagine how stressful and annoying it must be to have those MRA jackasses coming to your timeline to try to pull a “gotcha.” It’s never the best and brightest, and it’s always the whiny ones who can dish it but never take it. Oh, and as for what Jason and Travis said about Butker being a good guy? Yeah, I call BS on that. He’s been out there, doubling down on what he said and playing the victim, claiming that people hate his “timeless Catholic values.” Gimme a break, bro. You have every right to say that crap and we have every right to tell you that you’re an a-hole.
Meanwhile, Jason proved just how equal they are when he let Kylie take care of business after some lady started harassing them for not wanting to take a picture with her while they were out on a date night. The woman tried to tell Kylie that she and Jason would never be welcome in Sea Isle City again, so she told her, “I can smell the alcohol on your breath, you’re embarrassing yourself.” Yeah, I wouldn’t mess with Kylie.
Responding to this, because I have seen a number of people say it. I don’t think of Kylie as a homemaker, I think of her as my wife. I think of her as a mother. She has an occupation, as do I, and we keep our house the best we can. Our marriage is a partnership, we are equals… https://t.co/TnNsTW4o4B
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) May 27, 2024
DISGUSTING: A lady demanded a photo with #Eagles legend Jason Kelce and his wife Kylie, she politely said they were are on a date, and the CRAZY FAN WENT OFF ON THEM ????????????
SO KYLIE GET IN HER FACE AND GAVE HER A LESSON ON MANNERS
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pic.twitter.com/OXrjGpHkpF— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) May 28, 2024
photos via Instagram/Kylie Kelce and Getty
