Alex Cooper Is Engaged: Did She Betray Call Her Daddy?
By Emma Foley
Prior to this week, I had listened to about half of one episode of Call Her Daddy.
It was during my time as an undergraduate at Boston College. I had seen the hoodies featuring an across-chest, sans-serif “i’m unwell” spreading like wildfire across campus. A quick Google search led me to the then-Barstool-owned podcast that was topping the charts.
From what I understand, the brand has matured slightly since its Barstool days. However, at the time I tuned in, Cooper and her guests had fully subscribed to the flavor of feminism declaring not merely that “men are pigs,” but with a mobilizing spirit, that “men are pigs, so let’s be pigs, too.”
The topics discussed on the podcast are taboo even for the locker room. Not exactly a family-friendly show. Like I said, I made it through about half an episode.
That particular episode was all about The Game—the dating game, that is. I would wager the “daddy gang’s” definition of dating looks different from yours and mine. The instructions and often gross tutorials provided by mid-twenties Cooper were rooted in the idea that most romance involves an unavoidable misogyny in which men manipulate and exploit women, leaving them confused, hurt, and embittered.
Until now, Cooper preached that man always had the upper hand in The Game. Until now, woman accepted she might be “ghosted” after a few lackluster dates, be required to put on a humiliating song-and-dance to keep the fellow entertained, or settle for the bare minimum.
All the while, man hops about from woman to woman, simultaneously unaware of his destruction and corruption of the female body and soul.
The Call Her Daddy solution? Harden up. Get cold. Ghost him first. Block him first. Seek your own fleeting physicality and detached intimacy. It’s what all men do, so let’s do it back.
In 2021, Cooper signed an exclusive three-year contract with Spotify for $60 million. Since then, the show has been the #2 podcast in the world two years in a row only behind the Joe Rogan Experience.
Call Her Daddy’s Instagram account has 1.8 million followers. Cooper herself has 2.4 million.
“Father Cooper,” as she nicknamed herself, built an empire vocalizing feminism’s fourth wave. Fourth-wave feminism is obsessed with power, autonomy, and non-apology. In an era of almost-instant consumption of information and increasingly customizable messaging, this wave has been radicalizing young women faster than its older versions.
Up until about a year ago, Cooper herself claimed she “didn’t believe in marriage.”
So I was shocked when I saw the recent news of Cooper’s engagement. Cooper’s announcement read, “At one point, this would have been VERY off brand.”
Cooper, the number-one spokeswoman for fourth-wave feminism, has agreed to marriage. The woman fueling radical self-love and defiance against men has chosen one of the most selfless, contra-autonomous decisions a woman can make. After years of celebrating decadence and debauchery, Cooper risked it all with this turncoat behavior. An accepted proposal to one man could be painted as a betrayal to millions of girls. If the company did not tread lightly, Cooper’s empire could be in trouble.
I then watched my second-ever episode of Call Her Daddy, appropriately titled, “I’m engaged.” By the end, my pity shifted to Alex.
In it, Cooper claimed, “I owe you an explanation.” She spent the episode clarifying her perception of marriage and how it changed. Marriage is “thrown around,” she argued. “Half the people want a wedding because they want a wedding. They’re not happy with the person sitting across from them at the wedding!”
She blamed this on tendency of young generations to settle for anyone once they reach the ripe marriage age. “The concept of settling to me is the most common thing that I see. It breaks my heart for people,” she said.
Then Cooper described her relationship with the man who inspired her change of heart.
“I know I want to have children with this man. I know he’s going to be an incredible father,” she declared.
If you’re a follower of the show, you know this is a major statement.
In the podcast, she informed her “daddy gang” that she waited about six weeks before sharing the news of her engagement publicly.
But the six-weeks silence wasn’t the “explanation” Cooper felt she owed to her listeners. It was the three-years silence. Cooper has dated her now-fiancé since 2020 but has shared barely a detail with the podcast audience. What made the queen of confidence hide her life from her devoted fans?
A desire for privacy is admirable in a culture in which everything is on display. However, Cooper’s brand runs on raw authenticity. She for years documented the grisly details of escapades that would make your grandmother blush.
Why is the explicit so easily discussed and the vulgar so effortlessly glamorized?
Fourth-wave feminism promises a woman she can make her bed without having to lie in it. It promises a woman that she can make as many beds as she wants, or fail to make them and leave the sheets strewn about on the floor. She never has to return to them. There are no consequences. And she never owes anyone—not even her millions of followers, an “explanation.”
Cooper’s conversion toward something traditional irredeemably taints the character she’s created through her career.
If Cooper’s promised female freedom were sincere, she wouldn’t owe a soul an “explanation” as to why she’s undergoing a natural, beautiful milestone that’s been around as long as mankind.
The reality of fourth-wave feminism is that it demands conformity. A dissenting woman is a traitor to her kind, a slave to the patriarchy, and a subordinate idiot. She owes the rest of womankind an “explanation.”
Cooper’s announcement said the quiet part out loud. She gave up The Game years ago. It took her a while to share that realization with her fans, but you can’t really blame her. The Game lures girls with a promise of power over partners and revenge over the patriarchy. At the end of the day, that’s all it is—a game. At some point, a girl might want something stable, sustainable, and good.
Eventually, even Alex Cooper wanted that. And she owes no one an explanation for it.
Emma Foley is the Digital Managing Editor for the Howie Carr Radio Network. She grew up in Pennsylvania, but after graduating from Boston College, she decided to make Massachusetts her new home. Follow her @emmafoleymedia
