The election results are out, and I can’t say I’m surprised, but I’m still extremely disappointed. I always knew misogyny existed in our country, but I never knew it was to the extent that Americans would pick a rapist and convicted felon as president over a smart, educated, and highly qualified woman.
When I first heard the news, I cried. I cried because I couldn’t fathom why our country — why the world — hates women so much. Harris has experience as an Attorney General, a Senator, and as the Vice President. She crafted a detailed plan for our country, and she supports all Americans regardless of gender, race, or sexuality. Yet, she lost, and it wasn’t even close. She only had 226 electoral votes compared to Trump’s 312.
The people who voted for Trump do not understand how his policies will affect them. Just scrolling through social media and seeing Trump supporters shocked when they found out the true meaning of Trump’s proposed tariffs — that Americans are the ones who will have to pay more on foreign goods — said a lot to me. They thought other countries would pay the tariffs, but that’s not the case. Goods, such as clothes and coffee beans, are going to start becoming more expensive for Americans. My local café has already increased their coffee bean prices to prepare for Trump’s presidency. A lot of people voted for him without knowing what any of his proposed policies meant. And this tells me they voted for him because he’s a man.
Some of his supporters have tried to deny that gender was a factor in their decision. They said they voted for him because they wanted lower prices on products and for taxes to be cheaper. But Trump’s proposed tariffs might raise the costs of a lot of things coming from overseas (clothes, for example, which most often come from China). And if you’re not in the top 1%, your taxes are not getting lowered.
Recently, a comparison of two maps surfaced on social media apps like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. One map shows an education scale with each state color-coded to indicate their placement on the scale; the other map shows which states voted blue or red for this election. The states with a lower average for people with a formal education ended up being mostly red states. I truly believe that the people voting for Trump made their decision largely based on gender and race, and not based on their understanding of Trump’s proposed policies. Too many Americans are not educated on foreign and domestic policies and don’t fully understand the candidates’ policies before voting, and that’s harming us. The future of our country depends on educated voters.
We cannot ignore the blatant misogyny and racism that caused these terrible results. All this election showed me was that most people in this country do not care about women, immigrants, people of color, or those in the LGBTQ+ community. I fear for all of the minorities in this country when Trump becomes president.
Trump wants to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs for LGBTQ+ individuals, eliminate the Department of Education, deport immigrants and their kids even if they were born in America, enforce prayer in schools, and punish doctors that provide gender affirming care to minors. Another four years under Trump could mean a regression in rights for many minority groups. It could mean the violation of our amendments, an increase in taxes on the lower classes, and an even stronger patriarchy. I’ve never been more terrified for the future.
