Sexism has gotten worse, a plurality of people say, during the time the White House has been occupied by a man who’s been accused of sexual misconduct or assault by around 20 women and who has himself said he likes to “grab ‘em by the pussy.” That’s according to a poll from Politico/Morning Consult that found 38% of voters saying gender equality has worsened in that time, while 29% said there had been no change and one in five say things have improved under Trump. (Perhaps that’s mostly men who believe women had the upper hand and men had to regain ground?)
On the subject of how close the U.S. is to achieving gender equality, 11% said we’re already there and 41% said the nation is “very close” or “somewhat close.” So apparently there are 11% of people who think that equality means less than one in four members of Congress being women while slightly more than one in two people are women. Zero women presidents. A persistent pay gap. Fifty states with nine women currently serving as governor. Everything the #MeToo movement has brought to light. Again, the man in the White House being repeatedly and credibly accused of sexual harassment and assault in ways that line up with his own private description of his own behavior. Now that’s equality!
Go figure, Republicans and men were more likely than Democrats and women to say the U.S. was close to gender equality.