16 November 2016
After the shock triumph of Donald Trump
against Hillary Clinton in the USA presidential elections a week ago there has
been much speculation as to how it happened, and how the pollsters and
commentariat got it so wrong.
The post-election analysis will continue
for some time. But as the dust settles, the people of America and the world
need to know what it is the new President of the Unites States (POTUS) really stands
for.
How much of his rally pledges were hyped-up populist rhetoric and how much
contained deep-seated conviction that will convert to actual policy?
In a bitter and divisive election campaign,
Trump continued to defy gravity by riding a wave of popularity despite the
continued gaffs, insults, blatant lies and scandals. His win resulted in bewilderment
for many women, Hispanics, Muslims, blacks and ‘establishment’ politicians that
he insulted along the way.
No doubt large portions of these
demographics are wondering what a Trump presidency means for them. People in
the streets already feel more emboldened to exact hateful and prejudicial
behaviours, with violent examples already seen.
Hispanics might fear their families being split
up, and if a “great, great wall” will be built between their two countries.
Muslims will be questioning if their family members living overseas will ever
be able to visit them.
Some relief perhaps for the Gay Community,
when Trump said in a post-election interview on 60 Minutes that for him the
issue of Marriage Equality was settled. "You have these cases that have
already gone to the Supreme Court. They've been settled, and I'm fine with
that," he said.
But what will a Trump presidency look like
for women?
What will a Trump presidency look like
for women? Will men now feel more empowered to act ‘Trumpish’ towards women, at
work, on the street, at play and at home? Already in Australia, emboldened as
Trump’s lead became apparent on election night, Sydney University students had to be evicted from a prominent campus event after repeatedly chanting, “Grab them
on the pussy. That’s how we do it”, along with other Trump-like slurs.
On the surface, anyone could be forgiven
for thinking women’s rights have been set back decades. At least 43 years,
anyway. All the way back to 1973 and Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court
decision that recognised an American woman’s constitutional right to make her
own personal medical decisions, including the decision to have an abortion.
Despite describing himself as “pro-choice
in every respect” in a 1999 interview, today’s Trump is pro-life and is for
banning abortions. First, he said women who had abortions should receive some
form of punishment. He repositioned that sentiment amidst an outcry, when even anti-abortion
campaigners distanced themselves from the remarks.
During the third presidential debate, Trump
reinforced his stance by stating he would install pro-life justices to the
Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v Wade, essentially making it illegal to
have an abortion. Whether or not it would actually work like that was the
subject of some debate, but his end goal is clear.
Now I’m not going to debate the Right to
Life movement here. This is simply a women’s right issue, and to remove that
right from women is unarguably setting back progress for women by decades.
A misogynist President-elect
Then there’s the sexist scandals everyone
is now familiar with. The way Trump has in the past described various women as
pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals; his public humiliation of a former
Miss Universe when she put on a few pounds; his treatment of Fox News anchor
Megyn Kelly when she questioned him about his treatment of women at the first
Republican primary debate, including a Twitter tirade calling her derogatory
names.
Then the release of a tape from 2005 revealing
a “locker room” conversation he had with TV host Billy Bush, where he openly
bragged about groping women and hitting on married women, causing a string of outraged Republicans to disavow
the candidate.
On the tape he said as a star, he could do
whatever he wanted to women, like kissing them without asking and grabbing them
“on the pussy”, among other vulgarities. It reignited the conversation on
sexual assault, and millions of women around the world shared their stories of
casual sexual assault on social media.
When Trump denied he would ever actually behave
in such a predatory manner, a string of women came out in the media stating
that he had behaved with them in exactly that manner, even since being with his
current wife, Melania.
Melania is the third wife of the self-confessed
life-long womaniser, who famously cheated on his first wife with second wife
Marla Maples. Perhaps he believed his first wife was simply too old. In a 1991
interview with Esquire, he said, “You know, it really doesn’t matter what they
[the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.
But, she’s got to be young and beautiful.”
Now no one should be held to account for
every single word they ever said, and not expect to evolve or learn from past
mistakes. But in the case of Trump, there is an ongoing and endless pattern of
behaviour, there are no learnings, and he is unapologetic.
The UK Telegraph even have a “sexism
tracker”, where you can find “every offensive comment in one place”. Not very presidential...
Trump in the White House
So with this as the backdrop, what might Trump
do when he gets to the White House in January 2017? Will he walk around the
corridors of the West Wing announcing “you’re fired” to any woman over thirty,
or weighing over 100 pounds, or that he doesn’t find attractive enough? Trump
described a similar process when he owned the Miss Universe contest as ‘the
Trump Rule’?
Will he insist female staff wear skirts and
high heels? Get boob jobs? Will they only be in positions where they take notes, run to get coffee and act as eye candy?
It’s not as absurd as it might sound. There
is a clip of him in 2007 talking about hiring a young woman with no experience
because she had “world-class beauty”. And according to court documents from a
law suit settled in 2012, Trump wanted to fire female employees at his Trump
National Golf Club in California that he considered unattractive and replace
them with more attractive women.
He regularly refers to small-breasted women
as ‘pancake tits’ and once told Howard Stern that any woman who has a breast
reduction is 'insane'.
Who he will appoint to key positions will
also be telling. Will he surround himself with older white men of privilege
like himself? There have already been suggestions his key supporters will get
parachuted into prize positions, like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who
has been rumoured to be offered the Secretary of State job after campaigning
heavily for Trump.
The positions announced in recent
days fit the mould. Trump is already facing a growing backlash at his
appointment of his campaign chairman Stephen K. Bannon as his chief strategist and senior
counsellor. Bannon has been described
as racist, anti-Semitic and misogynistic, and the appointment has been welcomed white nationalist groups,
including the Ku Klux Klan.
What about Trump’s Vice President, Mike
Pence? Well there is no friend there for women’s rights. A born-again
evangelical Catholic, as most Republicans seem to be, his views on abortion
align with Trump’s current stance.
He has been described as one of the most extreme
anti-abortion legislators in the USA and has been quoted as saying, “We’ll see
Roe v Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs."
He is also an advocate of stay-at-home
mums, and has opined that, “Working mothers stunt emotional growth of children”.
While in Congress, Pence voted against an equal pay for women Act three times.
Will Trump's Win Normalise Sexism?
Of course, the office of POTUS is bigger
than just one person and his vice president. But it doesn’t mean damage can’t
be done, or has already been done. And with Republicans in control of both
houses of Congress, the path to a conservative agenda is relatively
uncluttered.
The cultural damage also needs to be
considered. For all those good ol’ Midwestern boys who simply believe that a
woman should not be in charge of the highest office in the land, their mindset
has been reinforced in spades.
Let’s not forget the obvious in all our
post-election analysis; that a highly qualified woman lost the election to a
poorly qualified and highly misogynistic and divisive man.What does that say about the electorate's attitude towards women?
A distinct lack of respect for women,
vulgar ‘locker room talk’ and rating women based only on their looks and sexual
value is a standard that has been set by Donald Trump. Yet he was still seen as fit to hold the highest office in the country, begging the question: will
this mindset now be normalised?
We can only hope not. A regression in
attitudes towards women would not be helpful, especially in the workplace where
women in Australia, even in 2016, are still facing an uphill battle for equal
standing.
According to Libby Lyons, Director of the Workplace
Gender Equality Agency, work done recently by her agency, the Diversity Council
of Australia and KPMG into the causes for the gender pay gap identified bias
and discrimination as the single biggest factor (38%).
She also says the average
Australian man working full time earns $27,000 a year more than the average
woman, and five out of six CEOs of Australian companies are men.
People Power
But as ALP Shadow Minister Kate Ellis said
on the potential ‘Trump Effect’ on Australia, “It’s up to people, good people,
to stand and fight for the values that are important to us.”
But is it that simple? Can people power
keep a misogynistic culture from further pervading our societies and negatively
impacting on the standing of women in the western world?
Protests in city streets across America
started the day after the election and continue a week on, NOT MY PRESIDENT the
overarching theme.
A ‘Women’s March on Washington’ is planned for the Capital
on January 21, the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.The message, according to the new
movement’s Facebook page, is to “send a bold message to our new administration
on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human
rights.”
The page says the event will be in
solidarity for all those groups that have felt insulted, demonized, and threatened during
the election and to move forward.
Another movement known as hashtag Subway
Therapy (#subwaytherapy) has taken off exponentially in the days after the
election. It gives commuters grieving the Trump win an outlet to shake off the negativity
of the Trump message with positive messages written on colourful sticky notes
and posted on the subway – and Twitter - walls.
Let’s hope people power like this is
sustained enough to keep America, Australia and the world, from slipping
backwards in rights for women, human rights and the rights of all marginalised
groups by the Trump Effect. Let this be the catalyst to bring uncomfortable conversations to the
front line, to call out unacceptable behaviour and continue stand up for our
values.
After all, as Chief of Army Lieutenant
General David Morrison famously said, “The standard you walk past, is the
standard you accept.”
Hold on to your pussies, ladies! It’s going
to be a long four years…
********
More Reading...
Still not convinced about the misogyny of
the President Elect?
The TELEGRAPH (UK)
Sexism tracker. Every offensive comment in
one place
THE DAILY BEAST; IT'S NOT OK
Amy Schumer, Meryl Streep and More Condemn
Trump’s Misogyny
COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE
28 Times Donald Trump Has Been Completely
Insulting to Women http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a44629/donald-trump-insults-women/
THE DAILY SHOW and THE DAILY BEAST
Clips of Trump Defending a Statutory Rape
THE DAILY BEAST
Donald Trump’s Gross History of Misogyny
FORBS
Why Pence Is A Scary Option For Women And
Public Health
LA TIMES
Trump wanted to fire women who weren't
pretty enough
ROLLING STONE
A Timeline of Donald Trump's Creepiness
While He Owned Miss Universe
