- Finding Unshakable Power in a World That Wants to Pull Us ApartPosted 1 month ago
- What could a Donald Trump presidency mean for abortion rights?Posted 1 month ago
- Financial Empowerment: The Game-Changer for Women in Relationships and BeyondPosted 3 months ago
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Tips During and After PregnancyPosted 3 months ago
- Fall Renewal: Step outside your Comfort Zone & Experience Vibrant ChangePosted 3 months ago
- Women Entrepreneurs Need Support SystemsPosted 3 months ago
The Reason Trump Won
By Crystal Andrus Morissette
The American election may be over, but our work has only just begun.
For the last year, I sounded the horn. I told horrible stories of abuse and injustice from my past just to try to WAKE PEOPLE UP. I brought light to so many stories of sexual abuse; domestic violence and the abuse of power in our jails, policing, and courts.
I’ve lost lots of followers, friends, and even family members. I’ve lost staff over this election. I’ve lost students, sales, income.
I’ve been told to tone it down, shut my mouth, and keep my political opinions to myself. I’ve been told to stop exaggerating, being dramatic, and difficult. And on more than one occasion I’ve been yelled at that men and women are equal now… and that women have it good!
“Why couldn’t I just talk about love, God, source energy, and the law of attraction?” some would seriously ask me.
Well, I couldn’t.
I just couldn’t not talk about him because I know Trump!
He is not new to me. He is not shocking. He is the man I’ve faced way too many times, in way too many places that you would never dream of that a racist, chauvinistic, misogynistic, father and husband could be.
Trump is our fathers. Trump is our brothers. Trump is our husbands. Trump is our sons. And that is why we elected him. We couldn’t admit to ourselves just how wretched the underbelly of America is.
I mean, of course, not all men are like Trump–rich, rude, narcissistic, elite, and entitled to do, say, and touch whatever they want. But enough of them agree with his ways to have given him the most powerful job in the world. Women agreed, too.
So why would good people side with Trump, you may ask yourself?
Because Trump is familiar to us. We know him. We’ve lived with men like him. It’s kinda like the Stockholm Syndrome. He feeds on our learned helplessness. He is the devil we know versus the devil we don’t. Institutions run by rich abusive assholes like him. Men who file for bankruptcy and don’t pay their bills, leaving the little guys and gals (and single mothers), like me and you, used and abused with no one to turn to for help.
We women are still trophies to men like Trump. We are a commodity to be talked about like race horses: nice legs, sexy rump, shining skin and hair. Good teeth.
And the worst part: We’re okay with it because it’s normal to sexualize and objectify women. It’s normal to hear racist remarks in private, and it’s normal to talk about immigrants like they are some other kind of human–different than our kind of human. ???
Instead of saying no to Trump and men like him, once again, we have turned the other cheek to his misgivings because we too have had Trump archetypes in our lives–bullies, abusers, men in positions of power–and no one defended us either. No one even told us it was wrong. No one stood up for us. Then or now.
I remember being down in Aruba to speak at International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2016. I told the Minister of Education that Trump is going to win. She laughed and said ‘COME ON!’ like I was being dramatic.
No way, she said. No way!
Yes, way.
I knew it after speaking with an American man that same week down in Aruba who told me “It was bad enough when a black man became president. There is no way we are going to let a woman run our country. No way! Come hell or high water, we will not let that happen!”
Here’s the bottom line, if Hillary Clinton had been a man with 30 years of government training and preparedness, she would have won against Trump in 2016. Period. Over and out. No questions about it.
So are you all awake now?
Are you ready to get involved? Have a voice? Rock the boat?
You are not a bystander. You can change the world by taking action.
The best way to fight is to write.
You can no longer stand by quietly when your boss sexually harasses you or someone in your workplace; when a teacher stands too close or touches you inappropriately; when your neighbors make jokes about women, black people, lesbians, gay men, transexuals, or minorities. You cannot lump Muslims with terrorists, nor can you ever allow others to speak to such insanity in your presence.
I’ve been called a whistleblower, a big mouth, a feminist, a man hater. I’ve been told that I laugh too loud, talk too much, and create trouble.
I’ve finally embraced I am a Troublemaker.
So, if you would like to help me make some trouble, I am looking for contributing writers for my Simply Woman Magazine (www.SimplyWoman.com). I want women who will tell the truth, shine light on oppression, and be the voice that the world needs right now.
Please help me help heal this world.
Please tell your truth.
Love,
XOX
Crystal Andrus Morissette, Author and Founder of www.simplywoman.com, The S.W.A.T. Institute, and Crystal Andrus Productions.