Opinion: Trump is Forcing Women of the US Backwards into Subordinacy

By Sophie M. '28

When we elected him president, we knew the allegations. We heard the recordings of Trump and his buddies, laughing about how “when you’re a star… you can do anything.” We knew this man was a sexual predator, a misogynist, yet we elected him anyway. Why? Maybe we simply thought it wouldn’t affect his ability to lead.

“Quiet! Quiet, piggy.” When Catherine Lucey, journalist for Bloomberg News, tried to follow up on her pointed question about the release of the Epstein files, Trump viciously silenced her with degrading language that should be beneath the President of the United States. The foul name-calling, aside from being grossly immature and unprofessional, has a deeper history with dehumanizing women. The name implies a woman is unclean and disgusting. More importantly, Trump used “piggy,” not pig; he tried to subordinate Lucey by calling her a pet name. He used this name to demean her to the level of a dirty and incapable animal- but this isn’t the only time he’s attacked female journalists.

Just earlier that week, Trump targeted an ABC News correspondent after she asked about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. He scolded her aggresively, not answering a pressing and important question but saying, “You’re a terrible person…It’s not the question that I mind, it’s your attitude.” This reporter was attacked on a personal level in a professional setting- Trump linked her intelligence, and her role in the workforce, to who she is as a human. Furthermore, he targeted her for asking a question on the minds of many journalists at the time. He called this journalist “subordinate” to him and the Saudi Prince, undermining the equality of democracy and putting a woman below the men in power.

People in political power always have the ability to shift the opinions of the general public, away from what they know is right. How do you think Trump managed to get the votes in the first place? He created public enemies, ostracizing groups of people to unify the rest of the country. Latino immigrants became animals, to inspire contempt. Trans children became diseased, to foster pity. Democrats became evil, to create fear.

Now, with his presidency in full swing, Trump is again isolating a marginalized group, but this time, they make up more than half of the country. He is using stereotypes about women to gain power with the men of America, making women into sexual objects with inferior intelligence. We have worked for so long to be seen as equal to men, but suddenly, we find ourselves sliding backward, simply because one man in power has picked us as his next group to destroy.

By attacking female reporters and demeaning them with name-calling and verbal abuse, Trump is showing Americans exactly what he thinks of women. He wants to destroy gender equality- will Americans fight back, or be indoctrinated with this tyrant’s misogyny?

In silencing women journalists, attacking them for doing their jobs, and perpetuating stereotypes about them as women, Trump begins to shift the world’s stance on the female sex. He is slowly forcing women backwards, using them as his next target for oppression: with his influence on America, women will soon find themselves subjugated in all corners of the country.