Grab America By The...

In October of 2016, a video surfaced of Donald Trump and Billy Bush making lewd comments about women in a trailer off-camera. The video, many thought, would cost Trump the election. How can somebody who has made such unadulterated vulgar comments about women still receive a single vote from women, and do men who vote for him share the same ideology? 

Trump, of course, revoked his statements, likening them to "locker room talk" between men - "Boys will be boys" is the saying that comes to mind for me. However, there is a much greater effect of discounting this kind of language as acceptable - it normalizes sexism and it can have an effect on America's youth. "If the President can talk about women like that, can't I?"

Donald Trump's twitter account is no stranger to bashing women for their looks, policies, or even bringing in their husband's affairs as a way to insult the woman.

He's called Carly Fiorina, an extremely successful businesswoman and competitor for the Republican candidacy, ugly (Look at that face!) He's cruelly taunted Rosie O'Donnell (Fat Pig), Megyn Kelly (Blood coming out of her... wherever), and Sarah Jessica Parker (unsexiest woman alive) to name a few. I know, I know, he was a celebrity before he was a politician, and celebrities often say things that they don't really mean when they really don't need public approval.

There is a problem among America's youth, and it is that there is a psychological bias that boys are smarter (and better) than girls. There was potential for a turning point in the United States - the possibility for the first female President - but Hillary Clinton was defeated by someone whose "blunt honesty" won over a great deal of America.

I'm not here to bash Trump. I acknowledge that he won the election fair and square (Russia...) and that the popular vote argument is nonsensical (if the roles were reversed, would Hillary supporters be saying anything?). However, I think that in a time when feminism is gaining steam and women are finally being empowered to a point never previously reached, having a President who has so mercilessly mocked women and said sexist comments is not a good example to set.

Recently, Trump was under fire for signing a bill that cut funding to international reproductive health services - in a picture where he was sitting surrounded by his all-male cabinet.  

Photo courtesy of STARTRAKS

I only have one thing to say about this:

Image courtesy of Giphy

In a study completed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, boys and girls took identical tests. When graded anonymously, the girls scored higher than the boys. However, when the students' names were known, the boys outscored the girls - and the study alleges that the bias that these teachers demonstrate can have significant negative impacts on females later in life. There is an implication that these lower scores deter girls from enrolling in higher math classes and thus can have an impact on their career choices and even salary later in life, all due to a gender bias at an early age. Is this fair? Of course not. Do the teachers consciously try to discriminate against the girls? I strongly hope not. 

I have hope, however, that people are attempting to shift this paradigm away from allowing these prior stereotypes to enter the minds of America's young kids. In the Always campaign "Fight Like a Girl," the brand juxtaposes what the saying "like a girl means" to older girls, boys, and young kids. For the older girls and boys, they associate the term with weakness, but the young girls don't yet realize the negative connotation to the phrase. By demonstrating the power that this negative association can have, Always encourages women to reclaim the phrase as a method of empowerment - not letting the patriarchy have the final say.

The overarching issue is what a Trump administration signifies to the American people. We won't - and we CAN'T - allow Trump's past statements and actions represent his entire administration, and we can't allow people to take these old, antiquated statements and use them as a way to terrorize and intimidate women. There is already an existing barrier that women face - in regards to reproductive health, workplace bias, and even domestic violence/abuse.

So, be aware of the things you say - little microaggressions that may be snarky or insensitive to women. We all have the power to help change the way our society thinks about women and equality between the sexes.

Women's March on Washington (and What Caused it to Happen)

So, it's a few weeks after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. We've already seen peaceful protests in response to his former sexist statements toward women and more recently in response to his most publicized act as president so far, signing an executive order to prevent citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for entering the country for the next 90 days.

Clearly, Trump has been making waves. Whether or not you support him, there are a couple unshakeable realities that surround America's newest Commander-in-Chief (and former host of The Celebrity Apprentice)

1. Donald Trump has not been a politician for the majority of his life, so for him, censoring his statements in fear of gaining public support has never been his priority.

2. He has made numerous sexist statements in the past.

3. He had expressed a potential for punishment for abortion (but recanted. I have to give Trump the benefit of the doubt on this one - I think he misspoke/didn't realize how his words would be interpreted. Maybe I'm being too lenient?)

4. He wants to restore American values. Freedom is one of our defining values. So, I think he'll have to protect women's freedoms in order to live up to his ultimate goal to "MAGA"


There was a widespread fear leading up to and following Trump's election about the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice to fill the seat of the late Justice Scalia. Scalia was a staunch conservative on the bench, and many women had hope that if Hillary Clinton were elected, she would appoint a more liberal Justice to the bench. However, with Trump's conservative views, women feared that many bills that protected women's reproductive rights could be repealed if his appointment were extremely conservative. However, the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch was a pleasant surprise, as he has continually proven to be loyal to only the constitution and will not be extreme in any dangerous direction.

I think a clear place to start this blog would be to discuss the Women's March on Washington. This historic event took place on January 21, the day after Trump's inauguration.  Although its goal was not directly to protest Donald Trump's inauguration, the timing of the event was meant to draw attention to a pressing cause, which is the protection of all women in this transitional time for the United States government.

So, the 2.6 million women marched and... what? Trump said something nice about it?

Wait, my mistake. I forgot that he said this right before.

(This is a time I want to facepalm myself. Clearly these women did vote, and he made the issue about himself, instead of recognizing that it was a rally to show female solidarity and bring forth a collective strength and pride in addition to protesting his new administration.)

The Women's March was a remarkable display of solidarity that brought together women of all races, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, and sexual identities/orientations to show strength. The protest was entirely peaceful, as was its mission, and it had offshoots in hundreds of cities across the globe.

Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobili/32103990670/

I really believe that this march is one indicator of the changing face of feminism. Third wave feminism originated with the intersectionality following Kimberlé Crenshaw's paper discussing the intersection of race, gender, and other uncontrollable factors. However, the election of Donald Trump as our president has ushered in almost a new era, in which women are bonding together to protect their rights and to lend their privilege to those with lesser. Even men got in on the action at Washington, and I truly think that this march was successful in demonstrating a collective "We Are!" all people, not objects, to which President Trump has occasionally alluded.

People that disagree with the mission of the March on Washington often have the misconception that feminists hate women, to which I always think to respond with a discussion of equality vs. equity. Equality is the goal, but equity must be considered to reach the ultimate goal. See cartoon below.

Image courtesy of the Interaction Institute for Social Change

We want everyone to see over the fence, so we have to give women, and especially women that are at the mercy of intersectionality, extra help and support so that we can all be on a level playing field.

So, I think that 2016 is the beginning of a new feminism. It is non-discriminatory but it takes no B.S. Although many women who identify as feminists voted for Donald Trump for his policies or out of disdain for his opponent, this does not mean that they agreed with all of his policies. He has made comments about defunding Planned Parenthood, banning abortion post-20 weeks, and more. Personally, I am an advocate of pro-choice because I believe every woman has the right to choose what is best for her and her baby, but my personal beliefs regarding that topic should not affect my logical decisions. 

So, the issue now is how Trump will approach women's issues going forward. He faced a clear backlash for being inaugurated considering his past, but there remains a lot to be discovered about his administration. He has not been completely forthcoming about all of his policies regarding women's health, but if the repeal of Obamacare is any indication, there is a big change to be expected in the way that healthcare is administered in the United States. Until then, all we can do is wait.

And, of course, support women. Feminism IS cool, because feminism is equality.