America hates women

And we shouldn't be surprised

In 2016, I was a bright eyed political science student who thought I could change the world. I interned in the European Parliament and proudly, even though she wasn’t my favorite candidate, voted for Hillary Clinton. I never for even one second thought Donald Trump could win. But, late into the evening on that Tuesday in November, huddled around laptops with my classmates, we watched as state by state turned red, declaring him the 45th president of the United States. I was empty and sad and depressed. I called my parents who were awake in their St. Louis home and also empty and sad and depressed. I barely slept, just cried and cried.

The next morning, I took the train to the Parliament for work, dressed in all black with a puffy face. When my boss, a member of Parliament from Malta, saw me, she hugged me and said, “Europe cries with you.” The day was a blur of doom scrolling, long phone calls, and tears.

Eight years later, I was once again in Europe on election night - maybe this is all my fault, for being away from my country. Unlike last time, I’m hardened by my country. I watched it turned its eye away from Donald Trump and his lunacies. I watched both parties ignore a genocide in Gaza. I watched young white men lean farther and farther right, salivating over a strongman in office. The way Trump runs his campaign, full of division and anger and fear mongering, was taught about in my political science classes as an undergrad student. We learned about dictatorships and populism and the falling of the state. To be afraid of a candidate like him. But, we elected him anyways.

So this time, when I woke up to the news of another Trump presidency, I wasn’t surprised. Of course, I shed a few tears, but I quickly turned numb. What else did I expect? A black woman to be president? In my country? In my country that so loudly hates women? In my country that so loudly hates black people? Of course our country elected a man who has raped women, who is racist, who believes he knows best. Of course we elected a type of man no woman I know would ever want to be alone with.

In 2016, Hillary was deemed, “unlikeable.” She was cold, calculated, and smart. In many ways, she was the exact opposite of Kamala, who is warm and jolly and personable all while being so qualified that she’s worked in every branch of our government. While I didn’t agree with every one of her policies, I excitedly cast my vote for her and fellow Midwesterner Tim Walz, hoping this time a woman would beat Trump.

But, just like eight years ago, state after state turned red. The Democrats clearly have a problem, and it’s bigger than Trump. The party caters to the rich, intellectualizes its policies, routinely send arms to Israel, and doesn’t play politics well. To really compete, it needs to be more aggressive and strategic in its messaging to the working class. Champion reproductive rights, raising the minimum wage, forgiving student debt. And not just campaigning on it but getting it done when they are in power.

But the real reason Trump won again, once you dust away all the layers of division, is that America hates women. America hates women. America hates women.

Tiny pieces of hope

My home state, Missouri, passed amendment three, creating a right to reproductive freedom.

New York, where I live, enshrined reproductive rights into our state constitution.

Delaware sent the first ever trans woman to Congress.

For the first time ever, two black women will serve as US Senators.

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