WASHINGTON — In a ceremony described by organizers as “both historic and inevitable,” Delaware Rep. Sarah McBride was awarded the 2026 Mansplainer of the Year trophy last night for her widely praised address at the National Women’s Leadership Summit, where she spent nearly an hour explaining womanhood to several thousand women who had already lived it.

The award, presented annually by the satirical-but-not-really Institute for Male-Pattern Commentary, recognizes “extraordinary achievement in explaining lived female experience to actual women from a position of prior male socialization.” McBride, who transitioned in her twenties and was elected to Congress in 2024, edged out stiff competition from a TED Talk podcaster, a Reddit relationship-advice moderator, and the guy who once told his wife the pain of childbirth “can’t be that bad because people keep doing it.”

In her acceptance speech—delivered via pre-recorded video because she was “busy legislating”—McBride reflected on the moment that clinched the honor: her Chicago keynote in which she informed the audience that “the patriarchy hurts everyone, but let me tell you how it really feels when you’re finally on the receiving end after decades of not being on it.”

Key excerpts cited by the awards committee included:

• “Hot flashes? They’re basically just power surges of womanhood. You’ll get through them. I read about them once.”
• “Pregnancy is transformative, but have you considered the deeper transformation of choosing womanhood later in life? It’s like pregnancy but metaphysical.”
• “I’ve now experienced both locker rooms. Trust me, the women’s one is better once you stop mansplaining towel etiquette to everyone.”

Event MC and former runner-up Jordan Peterson (disqualified this year for “insufficient lived experience”) presented the crystal trophy shaped like an oversized Bluetooth earpiece, symbolizing “the persistent broadcast of unsolicited insight.” “Sarah has raised the bar,” Peterson said. “She didn’t just explain; she legislated explanations into the congressional record.”

Reaction from the women’s conference attendees was mixed but mostly typed furiously into group chats. One anonymous participant told reporters, “I now know that my 42 years of menstruation were apparently missing the correct ideological framework. Thank you, Congresswoman.” Another added, “I’m framing the program next to my ‘This Is What a Feminist Looks Like’ tote bag as a cautionary diptych.”

McBride concluded her remarks by thanking “every woman who made space for my voice, even when that voice was explaining their own lives back to them.” She then announced plans to introduce the Women’s Lived Experience Validation Act of 2027, which would require all cisgender women to attend annual briefings on “what they’re actually feeling” delivered by qualified former men.

At press time, the Institute confirmed that next year’s award category would expand to include “Best Use of ‘As a Woman Now…’ in a Floor Speech,” with McBride already the prohibitive favorite.

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