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Was the Trump Election a Setback for Women? Even Women Do Not Agree.

Editorial / Opinion Piece / Blog Post

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November 12, 2024

Was the Trump Election a Setback for Women? Even Women Do Not Agree.

Source: The New York Times

To many left-leaning Americans, it is resoundingly clear that women who backed Donald J. Trump in the presidential election voted against their own self-interest.

Liberal women, in particular, have spent recent days practically stunned, stewing over how other women could have rejected Kamala Harris, who would have been the first woman to lead the nation in its nearly 250-year history. Instead, they chose a candidate who spews misogyny seemingly with glee. For the second time.

One voter from Maine, interviewed after Mr. Trump declared victory, offered a takeaway shared by many. As she put it, “The sisterhood did not stand up.”

In many ways the election results seemed to contradict generations of progress made toward women’s equality and for feminism generally. Women have made strides in nearly every facet of American life in recent decades, generally making up a greater proportion of the U.S. work force than in the past, taking on high-paying jobs and outpacing men in higher education — though they remain underrepresented at the top levels of both business and government.

They now find themselves in a country where Mr. Trump won decisively with a campaign that pitted men against women, sitting down with podcasters who trade in sexism and choosing a running mate who had criticized single women as “childless cat ladies.” Mr. Trump took credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to abortion but appeared to pay little price at the polls. Immediately after the election social media posts were circulating by men that read, “your body, my choice.”

Read here the full article published by The New York Times on 12 November 2024.

Image by The New York Times

 

Author
Dionne Searcey
Focus areas

To many left-leaning Americans, it is resoundingly clear that women who backed Donald J. Trump in the presidential election voted against their own self-interest.

Liberal women, in particular, have spent recent days practically stunned, stewing over how other women could have rejected Kamala Harris, who would have been the first woman to lead the nation in its nearly 250-year history. Instead, they chose a candidate who spews misogyny seemingly with glee. For the second time.

One voter from Maine, interviewed after Mr. Trump declared victory, offered a takeaway shared by many. As she put it, “The sisterhood did not stand up.”

In many ways the election results seemed to contradict generations of progress made toward women’s equality and for feminism generally. Women have made strides in nearly every facet of American life in recent decades, generally making up a greater proportion of the U.S. work force than in the past, taking on high-paying jobs and outpacing men in higher education — though they remain underrepresented at the top levels of both business and government.

They now find themselves in a country where Mr. Trump won decisively with a campaign that pitted men against women, sitting down with podcasters who trade in sexism and choosing a running mate who had criticized single women as “childless cat ladies.” Mr. Trump took credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to abortion but appeared to pay little price at the polls. Immediately after the election social media posts were circulating by men that read, “your body, my choice.”

Read here the full article published by The New York Times on 12 November 2024.

Image by The New York Times

 

Author
Dionne Searcey
Focus areas

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