YAF executives and members tabled on the Student Center plaza for three days ahead of Matt Walsh’s final tour stop on Thursday. Walsh is taking live Q&A and promoting his documentary and book, “What is a Woman?”
Table passersby were asked that central question. The YAF members cataloged their responses from two days and compiled the data into charts to get a better idea of what UA students really think.
The Data
197 individuals were polled. 104 were men and 93 were women.
The overall prevailing answer category was having to do with biological, genetic, or anatomical distinctions between the sexes, with just over a quarter of the answers.
The next largest category was dodging the question, which entailed giving an unclear answer, engaging with the question but not offering an answer, or taking multiple sides.
The “unique response” category was the next largest, with some notable answers including “a dishwasher”; “the mother of society”; “fish can change their gender, so we can, too”; and “Jesus loves you,” followed abruptly by the flyer handed to them being crumpled up and thrown in the trash.
A YAF volunteer said one student repeatedly asked why the group was bringing a self-proclaimed “theocratic fascist” to campus and offered to pray for their souls. Walsh has “theocratic facist” in his Twitter and Instagram bios. He has adopted that descriptor in jest for several years.
“That question is too controversial to be asking on campus,” said another student.
Disparities
There were noticeable data disparities between male and female respondents. In males, the most frequent answer was a biological explanation by over ten percentage points. In women, it was the second most frequent answer; dodging the question was more frequent by five percent.
Women were seven percent more likely to say that women can be whatever they want than men.
The most glaring disparity of all is that women were
four times as likely to answer
“What is a woman?” with “I don’t know.”
Matt Walsh’s “What is a Woman?” tour will be on campus tonight. It will begin with a screening of his feature-length documentary at North Lawn 2005 at 5:30 p.m. Immediately following will be a live Q&A with Matt Walsh in the Math and Science Building 1001 at 7 p.m.