Editor’s Note: This article contains mention of rape, sexual assault and hateful language toward women.
On Nov. 6, 2024, the devastating news came that Donald Trump would be the next president. When such a hateful individual is allowed to become the figurehead of our country, it allows those who share his harmful ideologies to spread them with no remorse. In the days since the election results were revealed, social media has erupted with heinously sexist and racist rhetoric.
According to an advocate for women’s healing and liberation, Hannah Cor, “Men no longer have to be quiet in their hatred for women. They can hate us out loud and lose nothing.”
When it became evident Trump would emerge the victor, a white nationalist podcaster, Nick Fuentes, took to the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to write, “Your body, my choice. Forever.”
This phrase has since blown up on X, receiving 90 million views, over 35 million reposts and later moved on to Tiktok and Facebook where it was written in 52,000 posts.
“Your body, my choice” is a twisted version of the slogan “my body, my choice,” which was coined by feminists in the 1960s during the original fight for reproductive rights. Instead, Fuentes has turned this sentiment into a disgusting insertion of control over women’s bodies.
Fuentes also uttered more atrocities on Election Night, saying, “I’d just like to take the opportunity to thank men for saving this country from stupid b—-es who wanted to destroy the world to keep abortion.”
Aside from “your body, my choice,” other comments such as “get back in the kitchen” have seen a 4,600% increase in mentions on X. On a similar sentiment, men have taken to writing “We own your body now.”
Tens of thousands of accounts used the disgusting description “dumb c–t” to describe presidential candidate Kamala Harris and other women on Election Day. Posts calling for the repeal of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, experienced a surge of 663%, as reported by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
In addition, researchers found calls for “rape” and “rape squads” receiving thousands of views on social media after the election.
Andrew Tate, a bigoted individual much like Fuentes, suggested in the form of a tweet that “I saw a woman crossing the road today but I just kept my foot down. Right of way? You no longer have rights.”
This hateful rhetoric hasn’t just been said behind computer screens but expanded to harassment in the outside world. Girls have reported being chanted at by boys in their school saying “your body, my choice.” A mother of a young girl took to Facebook to write that her daughter had heard the phrase three times in one day and male classmates told her to “sleep with one eye open tonight.”
At the same time, in the days following the election, Trump supporters decided to celebrate his win by overtaking Texas State University with posters that contained various despicable messages. These posters read an assortment of phrases such as “Women are property,” “Homo sex is sin” and listed women and slaves under “Types of property.” The only thing these people are achieving is reinforcing the ideologies that represent Trump’s presidency, and frankly, his personality in general.
Why does it matter if the U.S. might have a better economy if women, people of color and LGBTQ+ community members are being suffocated by people’s narrow worldviews? The main problem with the right wing’s stances is the complete lack of empathy the party exhibits.
They claim to be pro-life, but since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, maternal mortality rates are rising and health care workers are being threatened with the prospect of facing criminal charges should they provide life-saving care.
As mentioned, online verbal abuse has escalated for people of color since the election results were revealed. The FBI has begun to investigate after a string of racist texts were sent out anonymously. Specifically, messages were being sent to Black students who attend South Western High School in Pennsylvania.
The principal of this school had to send out a message to parents regarding the racist texts and described them as being part of a “nationwide spread of AI-generated text messages.”
Together, all of these accounts of hatred are evidence of what happens when a bigoted man is elected as President of the United States. When someone who has been liable for sexual abuse is supported, their supporters feel comfortable threatening women. If Trump can get away with all of the things he has, and still becomes the most powerful person in the country, his followers think they, too, have a hall pass for the same behavior.
If this is only the beginning of what Trump’s presidential term is going to bring, it is reasonable to feel scared. The only thing to do is to keep going and hope by banding together, the tide will someday change. The only answer is to spread kindness and hope it outweighs all of the negativity. There is hope.
