Hello, and welcome to your worst nightmare. A narcissist whose misogyny borders on psychopathy – a man accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct – is now leading our nation. With a cabinet chock-full of Bond villains and neophytes, and a Twitter feed spilling over with vile, Trump is throwing us into a dark and uncertain time.
For women, especially, the future seems bleak – but we can at least take it on and find ways to cope together. So I hope you’ll join me in the next weeks, months, years (yikes), in following what’s happening with feminism and sexism through The Week in Patriarchy. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to talk about.
Glass Half Full
Let’s choose to be optimists, at least for a little while. Thousands of women are expected to descend upon Washington tomorrow in what might be the biggest march in American history. Wearing “pussy hats” (my mother-in-law tells me stores in her California town are out of pink yarn) and bearing signs, women might just get a much-needed catharsis this weekend. I’ll be there as well, but what I really hope is that we can turn this action into lasting change.
What I’m RTing
Rep. Price refused to answer my question on his vote against protecting women from being fired for their reproductive health decisions pic.twitter.com/eKzQ8GsXNq
— Sen. Maggie Hassan (@SenatorHassan) January 18, 2017
DeVos: I wasn't part of anti-LGBT family org. Official documents: She was longtime VP. DeVos: "Clerical error." https://t.co/EbzImC3HOX
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 18, 2017
Zervos says she will retract her lawsuit if Trump publicly admits to sexually assaulting her https://t.co/aW1ShtTFRF
— Alice Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) January 17, 2017
Who I’m Reading
Jamilah Lemieux at ColorLines on why she won’t be marching on DC tomorrow; BuzzFeed on the queer dance party that was thrown in protest in front of Mike Pence’s house. And after finding out that the Girl Scouts would be marching in the inauguration parade, I immediately re-read this Vox piece about when Trump looked at a little girl (a child) and said: “I’m going to be dating her in 10 years.” Then I sent it to the Girl Scouts.
Your Weekly Hate Read
I Voted for Trump, Not Against Planned Parenthood
What I’m Writing
Philosopher Richard Rorty predicted in 1998 that after electing a “strongman” in the US, “jocular contempt for women [would] come back into fashion”. I looked at how right he was, with the ways that Trump’s sexism is trickling down into culture.
How Outraged I am
On a scale from 1 to 10, I’m at a full 11 over the news that the Trump administration is going to be cutting 25 Violence Against Women grant programs.
How I’m making it through this week
This video of a baby turtle eating a strawberry. That and whiskey – lots of it.
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