Jordan Peterson Lashes Out at Dylan Mulvaney for 'Parodying Women'

Jordan Peterson has accused Dylan Mulvaney of "parodying women" in a way that "makes blackface appear loving."

Peterson shared his take on the transgender influencer on Twitter, responding to a social media user who was defending Mulvaney after she was involved in an incident that sparked the Bud Light boycott.

In early April, Mulvaney shared news with her followers that Bud Light had sent her a personalized can to help her celebrate 365 days of being a woman. This brief collaboration caused a backlash that's still being felt by Bud Light and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, over two months later.

The controversy sits at the heart of a culture war and feeds into a broader debate about the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in public life.

"Dylan has been harassed and bullied for simply existing," medical doctor Eric Burnett wrote online, in response to someone's tweet, which has since been deleted. Psychologist Peterson took issue with Dr. Burnett's assessment.

"For simply existing?" Peterson replied on Monday. "How about 'for parodying women in a manner that makes blackface appear loving'? How about for 'taking narcissistic exhibitionism to a new high'?"

It's the second time in the past few days that Peterson has got involved in the drama revolving around Mulvaney and Bud Light. He weighed in on the boycotts affecting Anheuser-Busch and Target, encouraging people to continue avoiding them in order to drop their stock prices even lower.

Author and biologist Jean-François Gariépy dissected Peterson's stance, and found he couldn't agree. "Dr. Peterson arguing that the freedom to dress isn't the freedom from consequences. I don't think I can follow him there, that may be too much for me. I'll just pull out the [popcorn emoji] on this one."

He continued: "What I ultimately don't like about the 'cross-dressing is the blackface of sex' argument is that it requires an axiomatic denial of the right to parody as well as an essentialist respect of womanhood. Only a leftist mind could fit both ideas in. I can't fit either."

The tweet about Mulvaney wasn't the only one Peterson sent, discussing his opinions of trans people. He retweeted a link to a book titled Transition Regret and Detransition: Meanings and Uncertainties, then proceeded to share his opinions.

"These aren't 'detransitioners.' They are young men and women who have come to their senses, despite the best efforts of all the teachers, therapists and surgeons who have preyed upon them. And sometimes parents."

Peterson's tweets and accusations thrown at medical professionals echo a tweet he sent last year about the actor Elliot Page, which got him suspended from Twitter. After refusing to remove the tweet, he stayed off the platform until Elon Musk took over in November that year.