This cartoon is by me and Nadine Scholtes.

In a way, it’s also by Samantha Fulnecky, because a lot of the dialog was swiped verbatim from a paper she wrote. But I don’t think she’d appreciate a co-writing credit.

“Radical gender ideology” is the right’s new boogieman, joining “woke” and “DEI” and “Critical Race Theory” and “cultural Marxists” and “SJWs” on their increasingly deranged hit list. Donald Trump attacks it in executive orders; Pam Bondi told the FBI to offer a bounty for “terrorists” motived by radical gender ideology; speaker of the House Mike Johnson opened a subcommittee hearing by sneering “the scourge of radical gender ideology is very real.”

The fear of extremist “radical gender ideology” has been the conservative excuse for supporting anti-abortion and anti-trans laws, and generally trying to push the culture back to what they imagine the 1950s were like. The obvious irony is that, in doing this, conservatives are pushing their own radical (and reactionary) gender theories into law.

Hopefully most people have forgotten this (and her), but in November of 2025 University of Oklahoma student Samantha Fulnecky managed to make national news by writing a terrible paper for psychology class. From Wikipedia:

Fulnecky’s essay argued that there were only two genders and that gender roles were created by God, referring to the Bible. She wrote that while she didn’t want kids to be bullied, in the context of gender norm enforcement, it was morally justified. She also used Biblical authority to call social acceptance of transgender people “demonic.” The essay was unrelated to the [assignment]; transgender and nonbinary identities were not presented in the research.

Two different instructors independently gave Fulnecky’s mess a well-deserved failing grade. So Fulnecky quickly filed a discrimination complaint. The University of Oklahoma, egged on by Republican politicians, took Fulnecky’s side, and both instructors were relieved of duty.

My cartoon doesn’t exaggerate Fulnecky’s views. Her paper really was that extreme.

Which made the immediate, nationwide support Fulnecky received striking. The national Turning Point USA org took Fulnecky’s side (and proudly posted her shitastic paper online). Republican politicians and pundits rushed to support her. Fulnecky’s radical ideology about gender isn’t held by all right-wingers, but it’s entirely welcome in their tent – and it’s influencing laws nationwide.

Jill Filipovic, in an article about the endless deluge of Republican anti-trans legislation, writes:

Conservative gender ideology is religiously-based and it goes like this: Men and women are fundamentally different, created by God to compliment each other. There is a clear hierarchy: God, man, woman, boy child, girl child. Women are to serve men, produce children, and maintain the home; and in turn, men are to protect and provide for women and children. For Christians, this is the origin story of humankind; it is foundational, the very first building block of humanity and by extension society. It is, essentially, a “separate but equal” view of gender: Men and women have equal dignity, but not equal rights, roles, or responsibilities.

Nadine did her typically great job dealing with my deranged script requests. I particularly love it when a miscommunication makes things funnier. My script suggested a couple of birds playing soccer in the background of panel three, but I didn’t mention that I was imagining them playing with a miniature, bird-sized ball. So Nadine drew a bird carrying a full-sized ball, which is much more surreal and wonderful than what I had in mind.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels.

PANEL 1

A pretty young woman carrying a textbook talks cheerfully.

STUDENT: God made male and female and made us different from each other for a purpose! Trying to change that would only do harm.

PANEL 2

As she speaks, a big thought balloon appears. In the thought balloon, we see Adam and Eve, Adam holding a hammer, Eve holding a broom and a baby. God appears from a cloud, offering Adam a six-pack.

STUDENT: Gender roles aren’t “stereotypes”! Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men.

PANEL 3

The snake offers Adam a pretty pink dress; Adam is delighted, hearts in his eyes, dropping his hammer to reach for the dress. In the background, Eve watches, holding her baby and crying.

PANEL 4

In the original scene, a second student has appeared, and is giving the first student a skeptical look.

SECOND STUDENT: Huh. So you’re saying it’s the left that’s got a “radical gender ideology”?

FIRST STUDENT: Exactly! Thank Jesus my beliefs are just common sense.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is obscure cartoonist terminology for silly things we put in the background.

PANEL 1 – There are three flyers on the bulletin board. The first one is incomprehensible because the character’s head is in the way, but it says: “HEY! Please move your head it’s in the way and now they can’t read what I’m saying it’s really unfair.” The second says “LOST” with a picture of a woman holding a cat. Smaller print says “My human. Very tame. Answers to “meow.” If found, please return, I’m hungry.” The third flyer says “Study group seeks lonely smart person. Come do our work for us! Please bring snacks.”

PANEL 2 – God has a “Mom” heart tattoo. There’s a very “My Little Pony” looking Pegasus in the background.

PANEL 3 – Two birds are playing soccer in the background. The snake is wearing a beret. A book on a stump is entitled “Sick Trans Stuff.”

PANEL 4- The second student has a tattoo of the Triforce symbol from the “Legend of Zelda” videogames. There are again three flyers hanging in the background. First flyer: “TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. Everybody else really is happier and more together than you are.” Second: “STUDENT HOUSING.” There’s a picture of a shoebox, and then “You’ll be amazed at how little space you actually need.” Third: “COLLEGE: You’ll never make friends so easily again! It’s kinda sad when you think about it.”

Radical Gender Ideology | Patreon