Trump and Republicans are putting women in their place (i.e. pre 1960's)
2 November 2024
Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party yearn for the past - for a time when a woman’s primary purpose was to produce babies and when women were essentially the possession of their men. In 2016, few people thought Trump and the Republicans would do anything about this. But they were surprised when the Senate halted Biden’s appointment of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, when Trump appointed and the Senate (including female Senators) confirmed three anti-abortion Supreme Court Justices and when the Supreme Court reversed 50 years of the rights of women with the Dobbs decision. This was, at least in part, the fault of supporters of women’s rights who didn’t work hard enough for Hilary Clinton’s election because they didn’t think these bad things would happen.
Eight years later, more bad things are on the horizon. Trump, the Republicans and their MAGA followers have taken steps to ban hormonal birth control, the morning after pill and IUDs. They are talking about taking steps to reverse, limit or make more difficult a woman’s right to vote:
Consider what former Donald Trump aide John McEntee said in a video posted earlier this week:
“So I guess they misunderstood when we said we wanted mail-only voting. We meant male m-a-l-e.”
It would be easier to see this as a bad pun if McEntee wasn’t a senior advisor for Project 2025—the conservative agenda detailing how to strip women of vital rights and trap them in the home.
Others don’t bother with any pretense of humor. Pastor Joel Webbon—a white nationalist whose bigotry often goes viral—argued recently for repealing the 19th amendment, and instead allowing for a ‘family’ vote decided by men.
“Where women get their voice is from their father, from their husband. If they’re not married it’s from their father. If they’re not married and their father is dead, it’s from their brother, it’s from their uncle. It’s from the men in their lives that love them.”
. . .
In response to women putting post-it notes in women’s public restrooms reading, “nobody will know who you vote for,” and a recent Lincoln Project ad featuring two women voting for Kamala Harris against their husbands’ wishes, conservative men are accusing Democrats of encouraging women to “undermine” their husbands.
Bafflingly popular pundit Charlie Kirk, for example, slammed Democrats for telling women to “lie to their husbands,” who “probably work [their] tail off to make sure that she can go and have a nice life.”
“It is the embodiment of the downfall of the American family. I think it’s so gross, it is so nauseating….Kamala Harris and her team believe there will be millions of women that undermine their husbands…”
And at Fox News, host Jesse Watters declared that he’d divorce his wife if she dared to vote differently than he did:
“If I found out Emma was going into the voting booth and pulling the lever for Harris, that’s the same thing as an affair. That violates the sanctity of our marriage. What else is she keeping from me? What else has she been lying about?”
Here’s what’s telling: These men aren’t only angry over the idea of their wives secretly canceling out their vote, but of others cluing women in that such a thing is even possible. It reveals how much conservative men see marriage as a form of control—and how aware they are of the power of women’s votes. Jessica Valenti
I think it’s so gross. I think it’s so nauseating where this wife is wearing the American hat, she’s coming in with her sweet husband who probably works his tail off to make sure that she can go you know and have a nice life and provide to the family, and then she lies to him saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m gonna vote for Trump,’ and then she votes for Kamala Harris as her little secret in the voting booth, Kirk fumed to radio host Megyn Kelly. The Hill
Shame on any man who seeks to control women in this way. It’s time women stand up for their rights and reject these men. Other men should at least try to counsel them about how wrong they are.
It’s late, but there are still things you can do to make things better for this election:
Vote for candidates that support the rights of women (i.e. Harris and Democrats).
Donate to the Harris campaign and Democrats in toss-up races.
Post persuasive social media content in support of Kamala Harris.
Talk to a friend or family member you know who is genuinely undecided.
Help get out the vote.
More details here.
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