The Right's Rebranding: From Purity Culture to 'Make America Hot Again'
Source: Jennifer Wilson. "The Culture Wars Have Come for Lingerie | The New Yorker." September 7, 2026. www.newyorker.com
The Gist
The author argues that conservatives, who used to be known for promoting sexual abstinence and 'purity,' have flipped the script and are now embracing and commercializing sex appeal as their own brand—turning stars like Sydney Sweeney and rebranded companies like Victoria's Secret into symbols of a 'sexy' political right. She backs this up with examples of conservative-aligned celebrities, donors, and brands explicitly celebrating this shift, while framing the left as uptight and moralistic by comparison. It's less a rigorous argument than a cultural observation stitched together from many anecdotes and interviews.
Conclusion
American conservatism has undergone a striking cultural transformation, moving from an association with sexual purity and abstinence to actively embracing, commodifying, and politically coding overt sexuality and physical attractiveness as right-wing—effectively rebranding conservatives as 'sexy' while casting progressives as sexually repressive scolds.
Premises
- Historical conservatism (the Bush era) was defined by abstinence-only education, purity culture, and symbols like promise rings and chastity pledges
- Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, became a right-wing cultural icon whose physical appearance was defended by conservatives against accusations of 'wokeness,' and her lingerie brand SYRN is now backed by prominent GOP-aligned financiers (Sanchez, Bezos, Dell) and partnered with conservative-coded events like Stagecoach
- Victoria's Secret pivoted away from its diversity-focused 'VS Collective' rebrand back toward traditional hypersexualized 'fantasy' branding under new leadership, coinciding with Trump's personal financial investment in the company
- Conservative-aligned brand partnerships (e.g., Arby's and WNBA player Sophie Cunningham) explicitly frame right-wing-associated women as sexually appealing, using slogans like 'look who has the meats now'
- A cultural phenomenon dubbed 'Barstool conservatism' emerged after 2016, treating #MeToo not as a reckoning but as an opportunity to portray the left as sexually puritanical and the right as fun-loving and uninhibited
- Conservative media outlets like Evie magazine reposition traditional femininity and anti-feminist values as inherently sexier alternatives to progressive 'having it all' feminism
- Multiple conservative commentators and organizers (e.g., Raquel Debono of 'Make America Hot Again') explicitly describe and celebrate this shift as a 'bimbofication of MAGA'
Assumptions
- Physical appearance, sexuality, and commercial branding can be meaningfully coded as belonging to a particular political ideology
- The behavior of individual celebrities, brands, and donors reflects or drives a broader coherent cultural/political shift rather than being disconnected commercial opportunism
- The right's earlier association with purity culture was sincere/ideological rather than merely one strand among several conservative positions
- Financial backing of a brand (e.g., SYRN) indicates ideological alignment rather than purely financial interest
- The audience will recognize and accept the juxtaposition of past 'purity culture' conservatism with present 'sexy' conservatism as a genuine reversal rather than a continuation of underlying gender politics