We Need To Talk About The Misogyny

It’s already started. Kamala Harris isn’t even a week into the race, and there is misogyny everywhere. There is the deliberate, intentional misogyny Trump and his followers spew like Tennesse Congressman Tim Burchett calling Harris a “DEI hire.” There is the casual misogyny that many people, especially men, but also some women, seem to accept as obvious truths when they are not. The kind of attacks that we saw directed towards Hillary—“she’s shrill,” “she’s not likable”—and that we now see being directed toward the Vice President. Much of it is irresponsible, unthinking commentary that, when injected into the bloodstream of the body politic, gives people an excuse not to vote for Kamala Harris without saying it’s her gender or her race that makes them uncomfortable.

Like this:

Galloway is a noted entrepreneur, a clinical marketing professor at NYU, and a popular podcaster. The son of a single, working mom, he should know better than writing, “We should be open to the notion that someone who is a great Senator, great AG and mediocre VP is best suited for an executive role.” My #SistersInLaw podcast co-host Kim Atkins Stohr was quick to push back. She wrote on Threads, “A backhand is still a backhand when wrapped in a compliment.”

The truth is, Harris has been anything but mediocre. When have we ever seen a vice president shine? The whole job description is to support the president and stay in the background. Harris has quietly and capably (and perhaps some of that quiet is the fault of the media for not devoting more coverage to her accomplishments) taken her place on the world stage. She has been a strong voice on abortion rights and civil rights. She has never embarrassed the president. It’s so easy for men to overlook the accomplishments of women. But the sort of provocative compliment/attack Galloway lobbed, perhaps designed to draw attention to himself, is too dangerous in this pivotal moment in our democracy for a responsible person to engage in. I suggested that Galloway take advantage of the opportunity to rethink what he posted and be “open to the notion” that he’d gotten it wrong, using that as a springboard for taking a stand against this sort of casual misogyny and helping others understand what he’d gotten wrong here and how to do better.

As of the time I sent the newsletter out tonight, he hadn’t responded.

Of course, I don’t expect he will. But thousands of people saw his comment, Kim’s response, and my response, along with the over 1,000 others who took a moment to write about it. That’s what we all must do now, not just on social media but in real life. That’s where voters form their ideas and make decisions about whether to vote and who to vote for.

Yesterday, Donald Trump said you won’t have to vote anymore if he’s reelected. I’m not sure how much starker the difference between the candidates could be. This video is too important to read the caption and keep going. Watch it. And then play it for all your friends who think you’re exaggerating when you say Trump is a threat to democracy.

Trump is speaking at an event for his “beautiful Christians.” He tells them they only have to vote this one time because it will be “fixed” in four years and they won’t have to vote again.

You can’t make this stuff up, and Democrats aren’t, because the threat Trump poses to democracy is real. Prepare to hear the usual excuses from his team: that he doesn’t really mean what you just plainly heard him say. How many times has he gotten away with saying it was a joke or that he was misunderstood? If Americans don’t believe him, there is no one to blame but ourselves. Remember when he told the country in no uncertain terms ahead of the 2020 election that he wouldn’t accept the results if he lost? This is how Trump operates. He wasn’t able to override the outcome when Americans voted against him. We should expect him to play dirty in the fall and believe him when he says Americans won’t need to vote again, ever, if he gets into office.

Too many Americans aren’t focused on the realities of this race yet. After the election is too late. This is the moment to do what you need to do: to inform, to converse, to relentlessly badger if necessary. No one, no one, should have an excuse for succumbing to misogyny or to racism given the choice in front of us. We each have a personal role to play in making sure that doesn’t happen, and the stakes are far too high to be polite, avoid making waves, or do the easiest thing and turn a blind eye. Be the voice that calls this out as the danger to democracy that it is.

It’s prosecutor versus felon, champion of people’s rights versus misogynist, believer in democracy versus a man who would end your right to vote. Will the country really going to give into the tropes about Black women and reelect Trump?

Justice Alito, in his majority opinion in the Dobbs, the case that ended abortion rights, wrote, “Women are not without electoral or political power.” He, of course, didn’t really mean it. He just wanted us to go fly our upside down flags. But it’s time. It’s time for women and the men who care about them and for all of us to take advantage of our power to make sure that the Donald Trumps and the Samuel Alitos of the world know that we are not going back.

Thanks for being here at Civil Discourse and for being part of a larger community that is committed to keeping the Republic. I truly appreciate those of you whose subscriptions make it possible for me to commit the time and resources it takes to do this work. We have lots more to understand about Project 2025. There are important legal and practical issues around registering to vote, staying registered, voting, and making sure your vote counts. We’re going to take them all on.

We’re in this together,

Joyce