Speaking of, as a feminist, I often find myself perplexed as to how droves of white American women can vote for conservative male politicians who want to strip them (and their daughters, nieces, sisters, aunts and mothers) of their hard-earned rights. I used to think it was an education issue, a matter of ignorance, but now I have come to believe that the problem is much deeper.
While men tend to take the lead in misogynistic movements, many women are misogynists too, often without knowing they are. This sobering truth fell upon us when Hillary Clinton threw her hat into the US presidency ring over four years ago (and again when Warren didn’t become the US democratic presidential nominee this year).
It’s not just women feeling threatened or judgmental of another woman’s “outrageous” ambitions, but a masked and subconscious self-hatred caused by a lifetime of blindly subscribing to Christian patriarchal ideals and values.
Put simply, beyond the blatant racism among Trump supporters that’s widely discussed, it’s a lack of self-worth that has conservative women beholden to politicians like Trump who treat women as disposable second-class citizens.
But these women are so unwavering in their support, so unwilling to have even a modicum of self-awareness, that they refuse to take a moment to truly understand how their beliefs (towards another race, towards their own gender) undermine the aspirations of future generations of females—small warriors like my own little (Persian-Indian) girl who has no say right now, but who will have to cope with the repercussions of having a misogynist and racist in the White House.
In my opinion, to be a woman supporting Trump is the largest, most astonishing act of misogyny (stay tuned for the article I’m publishing on this topic—writing is the main weapon against evil I have right now).
As a new mother, I feel even more traumatized about this than I did when all those smitten women cast their vote for pussy-grabbing Trump four years ago. As The Guardian aptly put it, “What is wrong with white women? Why do half of them so consistently vote for Republicans, even as the Republican party morphs into a monstrously ugly organization that is increasingly indistinguishable from a hate group?”
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Rant over. But this is important stuff, and feel free to forward this along to any women you know who support Trump on the off-chance that it’ll enlighten them.
There is no way to get around it: if you support Trump, you support racism and a misogyny.
Natasha S.
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