What Trump’s presidency means for women

If non-Americans think the U.S election will not affect you, welcome to your wake up call.

We officially live in a time where the future leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world accepts and encourages racism, sexism and bigotry.

He believes Syrian refugees are terrorists. This is the same wave of refugees who have witnessed the destruction of their homeland and their children’s lifeless bodies being pulled out of the rubble.

He is about to become the leader of the country that is one of the biggest contributors toward climate change, yet denies it’s even a problem.

He does not see the merit in a movement aimed toward safekeeping black lives and rights. He’s gotten the seal of approval by ISIS and the KKK.

He is the only president elected who will come into office after being accused of 12 different accounts of sexual assault towards women.

Bear in mind that these problems — social, environmental, economic — are problems we experience in Canada too.

Think again if you believe his influence will not reach past the border and infiltrate the sponge-like minds of ill-educated and impressionable people here.

So, why do I care if I’m not an American citizen? I care because I am the woman he speaks so disgustingly about, the woman he disrespects and objectifies.

Above all, I am a human being. When I see injustice, it is in my nature to be affected and raise my voice.

To all the men, young and old, who voted for Trump and saw their victory, they were just taught by their leader that it is okay to approach women without consent, both physically and verbally.

Our “pussies” can be “grabbed” by any man who believes that if Trump can do it, so can they.

How this must feel for survivors of sexual assault is something I can only imagine.

What scares me is the thought of this mentality; how much longer do I have to imagine it until it happens to me? How many men will I come across that firmly and blindly believe that the way Trump has publicly treated women is acceptable?

Understand that if someone voted for Trump claiming to support one or two aspects of his campaign, whether that was in economics or foreign policy, has just signed off on accepting the whole picture of his insurmountable and toxic rhetoric regarding racism and sexism in America.

If you also didn’t sleep the night Trump was elected, join the club. If you stayed in bed the day after, thinking about how your body is an object that a man can terrorize and objectify just because the most powerful man in the world allows it, join the club. If you feel defeated and sick because the faith in humanity you so strongly stood for is now gone, join the club.

The only thing this election has taught me is that racism and sexism are very much alive. You can no longer deny racism because “we have a black president” or deny sexism because we saw a female presidential candidate.

The progress everyone claims to be ruined by Trump was never progress at all. In the same way that climate change is irreversible, so is this election.

You now have, in your hands, the truth. America never progressed.

So congratulations, your president is that loud kid in class who doesn’t filter anything they say. Except Trump is not a kid; he’s a bully and America is not a playground. It’s one of the most powerful places on earth.

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