The U.S. Presidential Election and the Feminist Movement

Incredible disappointment. Discouragement and despair. A developing phobia of loud, orange men. If you were anything like me on the night of November 8, you overwhelmingly felt all of the above as it became increasingly evident that Donald Trump was going to be the next President of the United States of America.

As I watched state after state burn red on the television, I felt complete anguish and terror for the minorities whom he blatantly fixated upon as targets in every debate and rally he held. This fear associated with Trump’s presidential win seems melodramatic, but as a woman, I am mortified. The affects this election will have on American women are but one branch of a complex web of political, social, and economic implications that will ultimately affect all Americans. I was forced to wonder what this election would mean for women and the feminist movement.

There are two components of Trump’s presidential win that connects directly to feminism. Firstly, Trump is the pinnacle of everything anti-feminist. Throughout the decades, he has made multitudes of heinous comments that both sexualize and degrade women; during his election campaigning, Trump’s misogyny continued to resurface in the media.

In September of this year, Trump’s alleged comments of “ Miss Piggy” and “ Miss Housekeeping” to Venezuelan Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado surfaced. In October, a video of Trump discussing “ grabbing women by the pussy” and attempting to force himself on a married woman emerged. Not to mention, 12 women have come forward accusing Trump of allegedly sexually assaulting them since the beginning of his campaign.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind these allegations lay dozens more before the start of Trump’s political career. A man that publically participates in deteriorating the social and physical safety of women will now sit in the Oval Office of a nation where women comprise of 50.8 per cent of the population. This is terrifying to say the least, and will have seriously negative implications.

Already, there is widespread fear about the effects Trump’s policies will have on abortion and birth control for American women. This has led to social media surges amongst women encouraging each other to get IUDs (intrauterine devices) before Trump officially takes office.

Another component of the election results in relation to feminism is not so much about Trump’s victory, but Hillary Clinton’s loss. As a woman in politics, what does her loss mean for feminism? By no means do I support Clinton in all her political endeavours, nor do I think she would have been the perfect president. But in comparison to Donald Trump, Clinton has more political experience and was more qualified for the position.

I strongly believe that the results of the election would be different if Clinton were a man —and this is not to say that gender is the only reason why Clinton lost, but it is a contributing factor. Men in positions of power are a normalized notion; we are used to seeing male CEOs of multibillion-dollar companies, or male political leaders all over the media. In comparison, to see a woman in power is an anomaly. And for most women, Clinton’s loss means that when it boils down to who is more qualified, it becomes a battle of genders rather than a battle of suitability.

It is hard to not be disheartened by the results of this election. Marie Henein, a prominent lawyer in the Toronto community, wrote an article for The Globe and Mail in response to Trump’s presidential win. She questions, “ So what did Ms. Clinton’s run tell us? That even a progressive society has difficulty embracing women in positions of power.”

She ends the article by stating that “ [it] means that young women must participate . . .In every boardroom . . .In every school . . .In every political party,” until this is completely normalized and engrained in our social consciousness.

More than ever, women and men need to unite and fight for gender equality and women’s rights in order to normalize women in positions of power. Trump’s presidential win does not mean that feminism is dead or that it will be destroyed. Instead, it simply means that feminists must be emboldened by Trump’s election as it clearly demonstrates that our work is not yet done.

Image courtesy of MercatorNet