Over the past week of heightened anxieties, tensions and fear surrounding the U.S. presidential election, I have come across quite a few articles in which the author explains why they support or denounce the infamous Donald Trump. As a Canadian, I am completely baffled by the final result of the election. I remember the first time I ever saw Trump in action as a presidential candidate. To my dismay and disgust, he was being blatantly racist towards an American judge with Mexican ties. I thought it all to be a joke—there was no way anyone could consider supporting the kind of judgements and values this man held.
But then, on November 9th 2016, I watched as Trump won the presidential election. I watched as people rallied in support of the newly elected president, and as people cried into their hands out of fear, betrayal and disappointment for what was to come. To many, America proved to be everything people hoped it was not—and that’s including those beyond the States, such as myself.
While I am fiercely disappointed with America for allowing such a catastrophe to happen right beneath their fingertips, I am even more disappointed towards my fellow women who voted for Trump. It makes me sick to my stomach to see articles being published by women, who claim to be feminists, saying they support this man. After everything the world has witnessed on part of Donald Trump and his campaign, can someone be a true feminist if they vote for a blatant misogynist?
As someone who has a strong understanding of what feminism actually means, I would say absolutely not. There is no room for feminism in a place that is ruled by a man who degrades and devalues women. Feminism cannot live in a space that inadvertently accepts the objectification of the female body through its endorsement of a man who deliberately objectifies the women around him. Feminism cannot thrive in a country that rejects the progression it has made over the past century. And any “feminist” who believes it can, is not a true feminist. By instating Trump as president, all of the economic, political, and social rights that men and women have fought so hard for for the female sex, are now threatened and destabilized.
Trump disrespects and takes advantage of women. There is no excuse for a feminist to vote for him, even if the rest of his platform is agreeable. All of the progress feminism has achieved has essentially been denounced and revoked with instating Donald Trump as President of the United States. The choices made by millions of Americans show that the potential of America’s greatness has dwindled; there will be no greatness for women, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, or minorities. They—we—will suffer at the hands of a man who never should have been elected.
It pains me to see Hillary judged by her husband’s past actions. It hurts me even more to hear women say it was Hillary’s fault that Bill committed infidelity. You say you don’t want a president who can’t control her marriage, I say you should want a president who keeps trying to put things back together even when it’s incredibly tough—which Hillary did with her husband. It is illogical to condemn a woman for actions that are not her own, and to praise a man’s intentional horrible actions and behaviour. Having been in politics for thirty years, Hillary is bound to have some fallbacks, but think about it: Trump has no experience, and he already has so many fallbacks based on his own morality. Hillary is an intelligent woman who has made mistakes, like any other human; Trump, however, is just a bad man.
When I hear feminists claim they voted for Donald Trump, I know that deep down they either have a misconception of what “feminism” actually means, and/or do not really support it, because a true feminist looks at Trump and sees him for who he is: a sexist, misogynist, white male, who only speaks on behalf of the uneducated white men of America.
So congratulations Trump supporters—you just undid everything feminism achieved over the past fifty years.