Women Are Driving the Resistance

The following article by Shilpa Phadke and Emily Tisch Sussman was posted on the Center for American Progress website October 27, 2017:

A woman speaks to demonstrators during what was billed as the second in a series of “Resist Trump Tuesdays,” as protesters supporting a multitude of causes gather around to listen, January 31, 2017, at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza in New York. Credit: AP/Kathy Willens

The 2016 election season was a troubling reminder of the stubborn persistence of sexism and misogyny. Whether or not they chose to vote, millions of women across the United States were forced to confront a stark reality: Their country had elected a president who built his campaign on division, professing to want to empower women even as he consistently embraced and deployed hostile, disparaging rhetoric about and toward women. President Donald Trump has also surrounded himself with and elevated men—such as Vice President Mike Pence, former chief strategist Steve Bannon and Attorney General Jeff Sessions—who have consistently supported anti-women policies.

The past year has seen unrelenting attacks on women and families, from threats to repeal the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood to the rollback of efforts on equal pay and access to contraception. But there has been one bright spot—the women from all walks of life who have been spurred to renew their political activism. Whether these women have been involved in community activism for years or are engaging for the first time, they are making it clear that they can lead in directing the state of the country. Continue reading “Women Are Driving the Resistance”