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.