Commentary by Andy Brack | Lots of thinking women across South Carolina are scared by the election of Donald Trump to the White House. And they should be: His election signals a throwback era for misogyny and control in more ways than one. We should listen to their voices, not just the roar of red Republicanism in Washington.
Already, there are reports that women are stockpiling abortion pills and gender-affirming medications ahead of what one person called a “reproductive apocalypse” that they fear is coming under the new Trump administration, The Guardian reported.
“There has been a recurring theme among people like [incoming Vice President] J.D. Vance and his mentor and advisor, Peter Thiel, that denigrates women who make their own choices, whether about pregnancy or marriage or careers or how they vote,” one Columbia advocate noted. “People who fear change from 1950’s traditional roles and those who just fear women line up behind them. I wish these folks had sought counseling instead of political power.”
And while women see their reproductive health threatened – yet again by men making decisions about what they can do with their bodies on birth control and more – bigger societal issues are looming.
“This election was a referendum on men’s unwillingness to give up power and willingness to hold on at any cost,” said one disappointed Columbia progressive advocate. “We saw how easily they were willing to kick out women who are speaking truth to power during the primaries here in South Carolina.”
Women also worry about how a red wave of politics across the country will promote more inequality and limitations in a nation where women earn significantly less than men doing similar jobs. They worry that the election of Trump, a convicted felon, will boost violence against women, including rape.
“To ignore fundamental issues like [Trump’s] felony convictions, a court finding of sexual assault, his intention to take care of women whether we want it or not, has emboldened the fragile egos of the male electorate and those women they still control. I am afraid for our country, colleagues, friends and family.”
Another Charleston leader, who asked not to be named, lamented how South Carolina women are worn out by election politicking after a big loss earlier this year when the state legitimized a fetal abortion ban. That, she said, ignored women’s calls for reproductive health freedom. But there’s more.
“The worst of it are the consequences to individual women across this state who are the people behind our horrible domestic violence, maternal health, poverty and infant mortality rates. Why care about addressing a statistic in this state when you can avoid responsibility by blaming those in the statistics for the problem?
“It is time to be like geese and build a flock of women and men, young and old, with resources (not just financial) and who have the relationships and the trust to lead or hang back when needed by your flock.”
One male leader in Columbia added, “We are already in MAGA heaven and diminished human rights hell. It remains to be seen if federal measures more stringent than the ones already in place in South Carolina will take effect. There is some hope that the Trump reality will set in on the Republican women who believed him.”
When another longtime advocate for women’s rights was asked what she thought the Greatest Generation that defeated Nazis would take away from the election, she said they’d be “rolling in their graves.
“Less than 100 years after they defeated fascism, it has sprung up again where they would have least expected it.”
Many women who think about these things see a tough four years ahead for equality and fair treatment.
“Misogyny clearly played a role in getting Donald Trump elected twice,” an Upstate analyst noted. “Women are more likely to be poor than men, partly from discrimination, partly from interrupted careers and the responsibilities of motherhood, especially for single mothers.”
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@charlestoncitypaper.com.
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