In 2016, as women, we still feel the need to reply to sexist, rude, and discriminatory feedback with “grace, posture, and manners.” However, since Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump began spewing hatred from his toned orange lips, waving his small assault-tainted hands, and giving men just like him a card they feel gives them the right to give the public a show of disgusting and archaic masculinity, the hen houses have started to rattle.
There has always been a select group that have either self-identified or have been labeled, “extreme feminists,” because they viewed women as equals to men in every way. The word feminist, however, can be a dangerous thing since the march for equality and a life without shaming, sexual advances, discrimination, and control over our bodies should be normal-not special treatment.
Those who believe that the qualities mentioned above are not needed in society should be the ones that are being labeled. In no way do I believe that feminists are evil, but I do think that labels always bring a negative stigma which ultimately can push back the progress of a movement.
We all think Donald Trump would definitely push back progress for the women’s equality movement that has been simmering right below the surface for decades, but while we wave our “dainty” middle fingers at him, we should also be giving him thanks.
Since the moment Trump has taken the podium, realizations of the suppression of women in this country have become more and more apparent. Everyone thinks this movement is based on the first female President, but its actual realization was started by Trump, and men just like him, that have emerged into the public eye. Along with these men come the victims and with the victims comes the fire.
We all know the dangers and adverse outcomes to the promotion of people like Trump but let’s take a moment and look at some of the positives that have come out of his disgusting mentality.
- A higher awareness of mistreatment and harassment in the pageant industry.
- A defined awareness of the measures of victim shaming this country will go through to protect a political asset.
- A recognition of the church’s willingness to, once again, look past the assault of women and children to further their agenda.
- The sheer amount of people who harbor racist, sexist, and discriminatory mindsets; a lot of them close friends and relatives we didn’t even realize were there.
- The amount of men we have employed as representatives of this country that believe our bodies are owned by the government and choices should be left to a higher authority.
- And the list goes on and on…
All of these realizations are generalized to the masses and are giving a push, on a large scale, to women who no longer want to think of a way to say F**k you politely. But what has Trump and this election taught everyday women, not in the media’s eye?
I had the pleasure of speaking with a few strong, independent, and intelligent ladies who live their lives one paycheck, one diaper change, and one business meeting at a time as the rest of us, and they gave me some incredible insight to the underground rumble beginning to echo in society.
Jenna Holcomb, Creative Director of the Swedish-based digital media company Young/Skilled and co-founder of the women’s empowerment campaign Hervember, talked with me about Trump’s impressions on a woman’s body saying:
“Trump has stated that women should be punished for having abortions. He also vows to appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court to make it so. Thank you and fuck you for reminding us that our bodies are STILL a battleground.”
When we talk about our bodies as battlegrounds, the male chauvinistic Trump movement has shown us that abortion isn’t the only thing we are protecting ourselves from. Day after day we watch as more and more women come forward about abuse they have struggled to deal with for decades but feel it is necessary to divulge now that Trump is threatening his rule of our country.
Triggers are at every turn this elections season as the words “rape,” “sexual assault,” and “abuse,” are splashed all over titles in the media. Some women take deep breaths as they read their news feeds while others put victims on blast and shame them because their timing didn’t fit with Trump’s political agenda.
In discussion with one of many sexual assault victims in this country who for anonymity purposes we will call, “Lilly Heartthrob,” spoke with me about facing these triggers every day and how it is starting to move opinions and strength of other victims. Lilly stated:
“I’ve actually found watching his behavior incredibly triggering (I had to stop watching anything that has him talking in it because it was causing night terrors), but the fact that “this is what abuser dynamics look like in action” has become a really common thread, it’s also been super cathartic. It’s obvious, for example, that it doesn’t matter whether Hillary responds with solid arguments, makes zingy comebacks, defends herself, or ignores him, he does what he does, which makes it so much easier to see that being an abusive fuck is entirely the work of the abusive fuck. Like all abuser dudes, he’s not responding to her, he’s responding to his own need to overpower her. It’s actually made it so much easier for me, personally, to stop thinking things like, ‘Maybe if I had said or done thing X, he would have stopped.’ It’s terrifying to witness, but it’s also so validating. I actually hope that because he’s literally behaved like a domestic abuser through this whole election, and people have noticed and talked about it, that it will somehow move the conversation about violence against women forward a little bit. Maybe we’ll be one stop closer to stopping trying to convince women who are being abused or harassed to change their behavior since it’s not their behavior that causes it in the first place.”
One of the biggest and boldest movements that has been embraced was brought to us by Trump’s disgusting revelations and admittance to sexually forcing himself on women. From these controversial Billy Bush tapes, the Pussy movement was formed. Business leader, mother and women’s rights advocate Jessica Gibson-Conlon spoke with Liberal America about this campaign stating:
“Pussygate not only allowed women to publicly reclaim the word “pussy” on a world stage, but it forced a lot of average men who were otherwise apathetic to confront what “locker room talk” should and should not be.”
Jane Ruffino, an American-born Swedish Communications Head, and columnist for the Sunday Business Post discussed the pleasantly accepted boldness of the women in media that are standing up and shouting at these atrocities. Jane said:
“Another thing that I think has happened is that because there’s so much horrible garbage being unearthed, and even Fox news stars are telling men off for being sexist instead of being total chill girls, it’s going to be more normal and more acceptable to say what most of us really want to say to sexist men, which is “go back to the garbage can you were born in”. Now, some of the energy that was previously used to politely try to ‘convince’ men that what they are saying is not acceptable, is freed up to do some real patriarchy-smashing.”
Jane continued and revealed a shocking sentiment that I believe all of us have come to realize, especially during this election season.
“I think also there is a twisted catharsis to finding out just how much men hate us as a unit. I thought it was in my head, and it’s easier to process now that I know it’s for real.”
With all of the hatred and effort we are putting into making sure Trump doesn’t reach the White House we have to take a moment and realize what the publication of such a disgusting and repulsive example of masculinity has done for our movement as women. Trump has brought out every negative example of how women are berated, demeaned, and belittled in every aspect of life on a daily basis. Hopefully, these examples will continue to fuel the fire that has created an incredible showing of women who are fighting for equality and basic human understanding.
So, for this reason, we say Thank You Donald Trump, but please don’t forget to go F**k Yourself.
Featured Image Via Mirror
