Why? Because this year, we have an unapologetic misogynist, who has no filter between his brain and his mouth, running for the presidency of the United States of America. We have never before seen a campaign that is as rich in utter bullshit as this one has been, nor have we ever before been given such an exceptional enemy to unite us.
And unite us he has. According to the conservative Chicago Tribune:
An NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll released Sunday showed that women have propelled Hillary Clinton to an 11-point lead over Trump, 48 percent to 37 percent, among all likely voters. Among female voters, Clinton has a 20-point lead over Trump, 55 to 35 percent. Among men, however, Trump still is the preferred candidate, 48 to 45 percent.
In the 13 "battleground" states that could ultimately decide the race, Clinton has a 15-point lead over Trump among women voters, significantly higher than the 5-point lead she held a month ago, according to a new CBS poll. In addition, Trump's support among Republican women has fallen to 77 percent from 84 percent a month ago.
A new CBS poll, released last Monday, showed a 19-point Clinton lead among women voters.
Clinton’s 19-point lead among female voters, according to CBS, “would be the largest margin for a Democrat among women going back to 1972 when exit polls were first conducted.”
Even more interesting, the CBS poll discovered that news reports about the transcripts of Clinton’s Wall Street speeches are not resonating with the public. Frankly, it seems that the only people who ever wanted to see the transcripts were those who either followed politics closely, or those who repeated what they heard from right-wing radio/television sources. The general public did not appear to be paying much attention. However, that same broader public does appear to pay attention to misogynistic vulgarities.
Eighty-five percent of registered voters have heard something about Trump’s comments, including six in 10 who have heard a lot.
On the other hand, half of voters have heard or read something about the transcripts of Clinton’s Wall Street speeches, including just 21 percent who have heard a lot.
More than 1,000 female Christian leaders have signed onto a letter written by Faith in Public Life CEO, the Rev. Jennifer Butler. In her letter, she objects to the support extended to Donald Trump by fellow Christians, as well as to the remarks themselves.
"The sin of misogyny has caused many of us to experience sexual assault or sexually abusive language that threatened our safety, dignity and well-being," the group notes in the letter. "Christian leaders cannot condone such violent speech about women as a minor mistake or an innocent attempt to be 'macho.'"
…
"Women clergy and lay leaders are alarmed that Trump has dismissed his sexually abusive remarks as mere ‘locker room' talk, and we are deeply troubled by the emerging evidence of him engaging in the behavior he described on his offensive tape," Butler said in a press release announcing the letter's publication. "Trump has not offered true repentance. Congregations must lead the way in denouncing such vile and violent behavior."
All over the internet, there are stories of women resisting sexual harassment. And fighting back.
And standing up against Donald Trump.
For the first time in its history, Vogue has endorsed a candidate for president. Needless to say, that candidate was not Donald Trump.
Donald Trump’s vulgar thoughts, words, and deeds may be the spark that will unite women to beat back the caveman attitudes that may have only been expressed in the locker rooms of Donald Trump’s imagination, but have permeated our culture for far too long. Those attitudes have created a rape culture that has, at its basis, talk just like his. Formed in 2012 after reports of sexual assault at a Burning Man event, the website 11th Principle: Consent! developed this graphic which has recently gone viral on social media sites.
In spite of the national revulsion at his earlier remarks, Donald Trump just does not know how to stop himself. During the third and final debate, he called the women who have come forward to accuse him of sexual abuse (10 at last count), liars supported by the Clinton campaign, or seekers after 15 minutes of fame. Hillary Clinton’s response?
“He goes after their dignity, their self-worth, and I don’t think there is a woman anywhere who doesn’t know what that feels like.”
Nor is there a woman anywhere who doesn't know what it feels like to be constantly interrupted and talked over by a man who knows next to nothing about a given subject, but feels his anatomy entitles him to be heard.
It’s a safe bet that there are a damn few of us who have been interrupted and then referred to as “such a nasty woman” by a man who had earlier spent the entire evening behaving as if he were a bad-tempered child on a schoolyard who struck out during his only time at bat. His tone, his repeated interruptions, and his personal attacks showed that he was intimately familiar with nasty.
But Hillary Clinton kept her cool, presented a stirring defense of Roe v. Wade, declared proudly that she wanted to enhance Social Security benefits, not cut them, and called Donald Trump’s dismissal of our fundamental peaceful transition of power “horrifying.”
She is the champion we have been waiting for, and he is her perfect foil. His misogyny only highlights her feminism, his ignorance her depth of knowledge, and his temper tantrums her steady, presidential demeanor. It is an exciting year to be a woman, able to watch Hillary Clinton use Donald Trump as a cudgel to break that highest of all glass ceilings.