https://socialistaction.org/2016/10/18/how-to-fight-for-womens-rights-in-the-age-of-trumpism/
How to fight for women’s rights in the Age of Trumpism
/ 18 hours ago
nov-2016-polandBy TATIANA COZZARELLI
After the shocking tape discussing sexual assault, how can women fight
against Trump’s misogyny? Hillary is no alternative, with her
imperialist policies abroad and a history of hurting working women in
the US. Last week’s examples from Argentina and Poland show women a way
forward in the fight against misogyny and for our rights.
After the shocking tape discussing sexual assault, how can women fight
against Trump’s misogyny? Hillary is no alternative, with her
imperialist policies abroad and a history of hurting working women in
the U.S. Last week’s examples from Argentina and Poland show women a way
forward in the fight against misogyny and for our rights.
Another week, another “scandal” in the U.S. Presidential elections. This
scandal, which seems to be the nail in the coffin for the Trump
campaign, came in the form of a 2005 tape of Donald Trump bragging about
harassing and assaulting women. As opposed to what much of the media
initially said, the problem is not that the conversation was “lewd” but
rather, that Trump talks about sexually assaulting women—he talks about
kissing women without asking or waiting for their consent. He talks
about “grabbing them by the pussy” because as he said, “when you’re a
star, they let you do it.”
It is impossible not to feel sick to your stomach hearing his comments,
as well as those of the “Today” show’s Billy Bush. However, this tape is
no surprise to most. It is no surprise that someone who calls women dogs
and makes misogynist comments about many women, from Rosie O’Donnell to
Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, would make the comments in the 2005 video.
The list of sexist comments goes on and on. He has said things like, “If
Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can
satisfy America?” He views women as sexual objects to be used by men.
Thus, it’s no surprise that someone who tweets “…26,000 unreported
sexual assaults in the military—only 238 convictions. What did these
geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” would also say the
vile things we heard on the tape. The Republican Party can feign
surprise to distance themselves from Trump’s sinking ship, the rest of
us are appalled but not surprised.
For the record, Trump’s comments should not be abhorrent to men only
when they position themselves as women’s husbands or fathers. The
following tweet by Mitt Romney is much like what other Republicans have
said: “Hitting on married women? Condoning assault? Such vile
degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt America’s face
to the world.”
Trump’s sexual violence should be abhorrent because women are people who
deserve respect and shouldn’t be touched without their consent. Women as
people, not just wives, not just their father’s daughters. Women as
women, independent of their relation to a man, deserve to be respected.
This is basic yet still needs to be repeated.
As is to be expected, Trump took absolutely no responsibility for his
sexual violence in his supposed apology or in the debate. His argument
was that sexual violence is no big deal and that it shouldn’t overshadow
the “real issues” like job loss and ISIS. Too often, sexual violence is
viewed as a minor issue, but it isn’t. One in six women suffer from rape
or attempted rape, and every 2 minutes, an American is sexually assaulted.
In addition to his sexist rhetoric, Trump’s words match his anti-woman
policies, exemplified by his call to punish women for seeking an
abortion. For several months, he had no plans about paid family leave,
child care, or equal pay on his website, demonstrating that he certainly
would not provide any advances for women. Now those plans exist, but
favor wealthy families via tax deductions. Working-class families who
live paycheck to paycheck need child care, not a write-off several
months down the line. Trump leaves low-income families and especially
women to fend for themselves.
So how can we fight against vile and misogynistic Trump? To many, this
is yet another reason to vote for Hillary. After all, she certainly does
not say these misogynistic things about women. Her policies appear more
pro-woman in that she supports the right to choose, pay parity, and paid
family leave. She certainly has never explicitly endorsed sexual
violence or perpetrated it, as Trump has. There is the allegation that
Clinton covered for her husband’s sexual violence, as the Trump campaign
has made sure to expose. Hillary Clinton should not be held responsible
if her husband sexually assaulted women; she should be held responsible
if she did in fact, try to cover up evidence.
Yet, this problem is bigger than Trump explicitly condoning sexual
violence or the claim that Clinton is covering it up. This is a fight
against sexual violence, against rape culture, for women’s rights to
their bodies, and for women’s wellbeing. It is the right to an abortion,
the right to be able to live fully and without fear as women. From this
perspective, it is clear that Clinton’s policies are anti-women, from
her domestic policies to her foreign policies.
Clinton was on the board of Walmart, the poster-child of sweatshop
labor. Certainly, Clinton did not fight for the rights of the women
working in sweatshops around the world to make Walmart products. She did
nothing to help those who work for minimum wage at Walmart stores
either. She didn’t step up to help the women kicked off of welfare
because of Bill Clinton’s welfare reform. On the contrary, she supported
welfare reform, increasing the financial struggles facing women all
across the U.S.
She did not support women when she backed Bill Clinton’s Crime Bill,
which incarcerated Black and Brown people en masse—increasing the number
of women in prison and leaving even more women without their brothers,
sons, husbands, and friends.
There is incredible hypocrisy at work when a candidate claims to support
women at home while bombing Black and Brown men, women, and children
abroad. Certainly, Clinton’s foreign policy of supporting the Iraq war
or of supporting the rise of a right-wing dictatorship in Honduras led
to the death of thousands of civilians and demonstrated a lack of
concern for the lives of women in those countries. According to
biographer Gail Sheehy, Clinton stated, “I urged [Bill Clinton] to bomb
[Serbia].” In the bombing of Serbia in “Operation Allied Force” launched
by Bill Clinton, more than 2,000 civilians were killed, including 88
children. The imperialist policies of the Clintons go on and on.
Some Democrats come back to the issue of abortion—arguing that at least
Clinton will help keep abortion legal. However, we must question the
reality behind this. During the Obama administration, there has been
significant erosion of abortion rights in this country. A 2013 report
argued that the pro-life camp made the biggest inroads in the history of
Roe v. Wade in the few years before 2013. This trend continues to this
day. From 2011-2015, 288 new laws that restrict abortion were passed.
While this has happened, there hasn’t been a massive nationwide
mobilization to defend a woman’s right to an abortion. Certainly,
Hillary has not called on women to take to the streets to defend their
right to choose. She has not put forth a tiny portion of the effort she
is exerting to get elected towards barring this anti-abortion legislation.
Imagine if all of the volunteers who are knocking on doors and making
phone calls for Hillary were put to work to mobilize people to protect a
woman’s right to choose. Imagine Hillary’s thousands of volunteers
taking the streets to disbar racist and sexist judges like Aaron Persky,
who sentenced Stanford student Brock Turner to a mere six months in jail
for raping an unconscious woman on his college campus.
To some, intentional collective action seems impossible. Yet, just last
week there were two examples of massive women’s mobilizations that prove
that it is possible to organize for the rights and dignity women
deserve. Last weekend [early October], the 31st National Women’s
Conference took place in Argentina. An estimated 60,000 women attended,
demanding an end to femicide under the banner #NiUnaMenos (not one less)
and the right to an abortion. It is this kind of conference and these
kinds of mobilizations that can stem the tide of growing anti-abortion
legislation.
The events in Poland are a perfect example of the potential of women
organizing, particularly of women workers organizing. The government was
on the verge of passing a total ban on abortions in Poland, but then
women staged mass protests in 60 cities across the country. On “Black
Monday” women dressed in black and many refused to go to work. Instead,
they took to the streets to protest the bill.
Not only did Polish Minister Jaroslaw Gowin say that the mobilizations
“caused us to think and taught us humility,” but the Polish parliament
voted 352-58 with 18 abstentions against the abortion ban. Two weeks ago
it looked as if the anti-abortion bill would pass. Last week [Oct. 6],
it was defeated by a huge margin. The defeat of the abortion ban in
Poland shows us the power of women united, as well as the power of a
strike. It is these kinds of mobilizations that can stop the
conservative right from stripping rights away from half the population.
To be clear: Trump is vile. We must fight against him with everything we
have. Just this week in Poland and Argentina, we have seen two powerful
examples of ways to fight. Voting for Hillary won’t guarantee our right
to an abortion—we have seen how these rights are withering away before
our very eyes under a Democratic presidency. A vote for Hillary is not a
vote for a pro-woman agenda. Rather, a vote for Hillary is a vote for
policies that hurt women in the U.S. and abroad.
Instead of voting for Hillary, people must consciously fight for the
rights of all women. What guarantees women’s rights is not having a
woman in power; it is visible and meaningful organization and
mobilization in the streets and in the workplace.
This article is reprinted with permission from http://www.leftvoice.org.
Photo: On “Black Monday,” Oct. 3, women protested in Poland against
government’s proposed anti-abortion law. Credit Andrzej Grygiel/European
Pressphoto Agency
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October 18, 2016 in Elections, Women's Liberation. Tags: Clinton, Trump
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