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Political Science
Applying Feminist theory to understand the US Elections Abstract This article aims to understand how and why feminist came against Trump, and how they were a major reason for his defeat This paper first lays out the relationship between feminism and politics, further it tells out how the feminist have come against Trump, but this feminist uprising is not united it has been divided based on race between black feminists who are against Trump and the white feminist who still count on him. In the end, we can conclude that feminism is one of the major reasons that Trump had to loose the 2020 election. Various interviews, journal articles and books have been taken into consideration to show how strong feminism is in the US however now it is witnessing a split that endangers it. Introduction The US Election is one of the biggest events that took place it not only carried a lot of significance but also was held in the middle of a global pandemic, voters had to make a clear choice between the republicans and the democratic. The two major giants Joe Biden and Donald Trump were standing against each other. Not just the USA but the whole world had set an eye for the US election. However we all know what the result was Biden won his election and was elected as the president, but what all factors amounted to this, one of the major reasons was the uprising feminists. Feminism is an interesting theory, especially when used to understand the current scenario of the US elections. This paper aims at understanding how feminism led to Trump's defeat in the US elections of 2020 also how the second wave of feminism came in with the idea that the strength of feminism was collective power, but this election clearly showed that feminism in
the US is no longer united, and has been divided on the bases of race into black and white feminism. This paper establishes the relationship between feminism and politics, then it further states why feminists have been standing against Trump also it analysis the how feminism is no longer united and has been divided, at the end it lays down the strong feminist uprising against Trump in 2020 was a major reason for his downfall in the 2020 elections. Politics and Feminism There is a close relationship between feminism and politics that has been in practice for centuries. Politics is related to government and various state-driven institutions, there have been many debates regarding the nature of politics. There are primarily two elements of politics - The first is an endorsement of a broad power-based conception of politics rather than a narrow institution-based conception. The second is the demand for the reform of all the institutions governing relations of power. Feminist have however adopted a broad definition of politics But then arises the question that why have feminist adopted a broad concept of politics? Feminists perceive that the mainstream politics has been constituted in such a way that it systematically excludes women and femineity and also gives men privilege, on the other hand, politics has led to the marginalisation of women as they do not get adequate representation in politics. This can also be seen in the current scenario in US politics to be specific. Since centuries very few women in comparison to men have been participating in the elections, there has always been a fight regarding the representation of women in governance. The relationship between feminism and politics has been a paradoxical one according to Anne Philip feminism is politics while according to Brown politics had always been male dominant and an arena exclusively limited to men. One can also claim that "feminism is politics", as when we see politics as a process of negotiation and struggle over the distribution of power, we can make out that women have not only shaped politics but have also been shaped by it, women since centuries have been engaged in the political struggle to alter the power relations while on the other hand, one can even claim that women have
up" about any women in power who dares to challenge him, for example, Hillary Clinton Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar among many others. However feminist have been against him being re-elected, but why is that so? Many women have accused the former president of harassment and sexual assault towards women. Not only this he has also bragged about grabbing women "by the pussy", organized several beauty pageants before entering the white house and has been accused of entering the dressing room which contained many semi-naked teenagers (Bassett, 2020) The most recent incident took place days before the election when a women reporter asked a question to Trump. The reporter asked if he thinks the United States is doing "far better than any other country" at coronavirus testing. "Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives?" To which Trump replied, "They're losing their lives everywhere in the world, and maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me, ask China that question, okay?". The president called it a nasty question and tried to change the subject, but at the end had to abruptly leave the conference. (Bassett, 2020) The women organised an annual march in 2017, the opposition of feminist against Trump can be seen from the fact that this march contained 3 times more people than Trump's inauguration crowd. People like Trump somewhere are responsible for women not having equality in the governance yet despite such an opposition Trump won the previous elections but if he has such a huge population voting against him how did he win the previous elections? Author and professor Cheris Kramarae once famously said: "Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings."Trump and many of his supporters, however, have reduced feminism to an ideology rooted in hostility toward men. (Duffin, 2020)
White Women – Loyal Supporter of Trump This is because a lot of white women voted, in favour of Trump according to 57 per cent of white women cast vote for Trump as compared to 12 per cent of black women. The exit polls clearly showed the trumps popularity among the feminists or to be specific white feminists increased in 2020. The main thing to be noted here is that despite such a strong opposition how does Trump manage to perform well among the white women? (Duffin, 2020) This takes us to the question: That what makes the white women a loyal supporter of Trump despite such strong disapproval towards Trumps presidential ship. The main reason behind this being that the interest of white women can be more aligned with white supremacy and radical feminism. This concept festers white women bigotry against marginalised people. This unifies both white men and women giving them power and a sense of belongingness. Tamara Winfrey Harris in 2016 spoke about how despite such hatred and contempt against the president, the white women still cast vote for him. The mainstream gender equality movement that has come to be known as White Feminism. According to McRae, one should not be surprised if white women keep supporting Trump, as they are just taking forward the legacy started with their mothers and grandmothers. It is
However many women have not united in the feminist uprising a woman in Mississippi, Krysta Fitch said that being a Christian devotee woman should not run for office. Are not the women here themselves being the critiques of feminism even in the 20 th century women are not able to accept other women taking positions of power. It's not only the men but also women with reserved thinking who stand strongly against feminism. (Chira, 2020) Me too and Black lives matter movement Feminist once again came together against men through their initiated #MeToo movement. Trump has often made fun of this movement, he openly made fun of a woman Elizabeth Warren calling her Pocahontas" to mock at her for her claims of Native American ancestry. Trump imagined himself sparring with Warren on the debate stage and told the crowd that he would toss her a DNA kit, "but we have to do it gently because we're in the #MeToo generation, so we have to be very gentle." Donald Trump tweeted that "lives are being shattered and destroyed" by "mere" allegations, and lamented what he framed as a lack of due process. Since before President Trump was sworn in, many women have attacked him for running on a platform that did not prioritize women's rights. Those criticisms have only expanded as the number of women seeking elected office has grown, the percentage of women supporting Trump has dropped and the #MeToo movement has continued to grab headlines. But this does not appear to have swayed Trump much in how he views gender issues in America. Despite Merriam-Webster selecting "feminism" as 2017's word of the year, the president who ran for office attacking political correctness and progressive values rejects the label. Not only this but the black lives matter movement have enraged the black feminist against Trump to an extent that he hardly got any votes from them, being another factor of his defeat. Conclusion
Feminism in 2020 US election has played its part, it has come as a strong movement in the elections, and made sure that Trump is not re-elected, women however seeing the poll results since a couple of years are angry to find out that sisterhood is fickle. Women no longer identify themselves together and this a big danger for feminism in the coming years. Me too movement also the active participation of women in black lives matter have turned black feminists against Trump, even more, however, the white feminism continues to show loyalty. Feminist outlook on the US election provides many important arguments and makes it certain that women have the power to make effective revolutions in the politics applied they stand united. Reference list Bassett, L. (2020). Trump Doesn't Hate Women—He's Afraid of Them. [online] GQ. Available at: https://www.gq.com/story/trump-doesnt-hate-women-hes-afraid-of-them [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Chira, S. (2020). Donald Trump's Gift to Feminism: The Resistance. [online] American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Available at: https://www.amacad.org/publication/donald-trumps-gift-feminism- resistance. Duffin, E. (2020). 2020 Presidential Election exit polls: share of votes by ethnicity U.S. 2020. [online] Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1184425/presidential-election-exit-polls- share-votes-ethnicity-us/. Leftwich, A. (2004). What is politics? : the activity and its study. Cambridge ; Malden, Ma: Polity, pp.119–134. Valens, A. (2020). Trump did better with white women in 2020's exit polls. Why? [online] The Daily Dot. Available at: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/trump-white-women-exit-polls-2020/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020].
