We all know the Republican Party has been, and still is, the “conservative” party traditionally more male-chauvinist, racist, homophobic and nationalist of the United States. But the RP as much as the DP so far respected the rules of the “double-face game” of the US politics: to not say in public what they say in meetings, letters and headquarters of the party.
By Florence Oppen.
Just like both parties do not make public their encounters with the big companies and the agreements they sign, so the people believe their fake promises and their “concern” for the average US citizen, the candidates of the bourgeoisie had not dare so far to reveal in public what they actually think of the Latin@s, afro-Americans, women, gays, etc. Maybe the only notable exception of the status quo of what is “politically correct” for the US imperialism has been the open discrimination, with no nuances, to the Arab and Muslim population, as potential “terrorists”, “extremists”, “radicals” and “barbarians”; as enemies of the peace and “national security”, the culture and the evil “civilization” and “democracy” the US persists in exporting.
But this electoral period is marked by a historical change: a particularly reactionary candidate, Donald Trump -completely outspoken, not having received the educational political filters of the bourgeoisie that teach the most absolute hypocrisy and cynicism-, says out loud what the bourgeois elite thinks and, sadly, what a part of the working class also believes.
Is Trump rudeness, then, something exceptional? Yes and no. It is exceptional that a candidate to presidency says such things out loud, treats women in such a sexist way in public, etc. But what he thinks, says and does, in content, has nothing of ‘exceptional’. It is what the RP (which let him be candidate) has nurtured, just like part of the DP (that never confronted sexism seriously); it is the exposure of the culture of the putrid political elite of the 1%. Now it has just become clear for all of us.
Trumps sexism was exposed to public during the primaries
Last year already, during the main TV debate of the RP primaries, in August 2015, Trump showed extremely sexist behaviors. The host, Megyn Kelly, asked him during the debate how he explained that, in the past, he had treat women of “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals”.[1] In that moment he did not know what to say, so he did not answered, saying only the question was “ridiculous” and “out of place”. But the next day, in a TV show where he was being interviewed, he talked about this question and affirmed it was obvious the journalist had “blood coming out of her wherever”. [2]
Trump went back to the rude, male-chauvinist and intolerable topic that women who have a strong opinion, or a different one than men, and do not stay quiet or subjugate to a “yes, sr.”, must be having hormonal problems, are ovulating or in their periods, etc., and that is why they are “in a bad mood”; the already boring theory of women’s “hysteria”, their incapacity to give a rational speech, to be equal political subjects and therefore to defend their rights and equal participation regarding men.
It is true those comments produced a national scandal in August 2015, yet the RP did not ban the candidate; neither did the DP launch a public campaign to demand his disqualification. On the contrary, they let that pass, because it is part of their own culture.
The new revelations on Trump’s misogyny
Now the voting day is coming, Clinton’s campaign is exposing all Trump’s dirty clothes. And there is a lot, tons of garbage, as he is a disgraceful character. The liberal media particularly is exposing more “proofs” of Trump’s horrible sexism because Hillary is a woman (the same thing would be necessary regarding his racism and xenophobia, but it is worth to point out the Democratic Party takes no advantage of it, as in those fields Clinton does not have good records, either).
The media has been making public, for several days now, tons of denounces and information on the RP candidate’s misogyny. The most shocking one was the video of 2005, recording a conversation between him and another Republican member, where he treats women like mere sexual objects, bragging on his reputation and record as sexual predator, the amount of women he has harassed and touched without consent, etc.: “Trump says: ‘You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait”. He adds: “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything’”.[3] Also, there have been at least 4 women accusing him of sexual harassment and even robbery and rape.[4] The British newspaper The Telegraph has a list of all his sexist comments and incidents proven since 1990; an already long list that continues to grow.[5]
Trump’s political program for women
Beyond his rude, sexist, unacceptable behavior, it is important to explain that his extremely repugnant way of being is the reflection of a political program that attacks women. Trump proposes to eliminate almost all the rights women conquered through their struggle over the last decades:
- He wants to ban the free abortion and go back to a causal system (rape, incest and then the life of the mother is at risk), and criminalize women who abort beyond the law;
- He wants to eliminate Obama’s Health reform (Affordable Care Act), what will leave millions of people with no medical coverage, which includes free contraception pills and prenatal care;
- He wants to eliminate the program Planned Parenthood, which provides funds to low-resources families to help them with reproductive health and reproductive medical examination against cancer;
- He wants to nominate anti-abortion judges for the Supreme Court.
Therefore, Trump proposes a social and political offensive against women, against the right to decide and against the right to reproductive health; specifically against working women, which are the ones that depend on the public health programs he wants to eliminate.
How do we confront Trump?
To the defenders of women’s rights and the rights of the working class, there is no doubt we have to stop Trump. It is obvious. Also, not just Trump but all the racist, sexist and homophobic speeches and attitudes his public candidature to presidency legitimized as “acceptable” in our society.
But even if we agree in confronting Trump, there are differences regarding how. We do not think voting for Clinton will generate a setback to the sexism Trump liberated among the society during his campaign. We do not consider Clinton, either -as former Walmart’s Counselor and defender of neo-liberalism- a guarantee to maintain and expand the rights of working women.
On the contrary, we think we have to convince our social, union, neighborhood and students organizations to be the ones to confront not just Trump but all the cases of male-chauvinism and sexual harassment in our work places and schools. We have to raise the flags of free, safe and public abortion, as much as access to free, qualified, public health for the entire population. Because even now, after 8 years of Clinton’s government and then 8 more years of Obama, we do not have it. The rights are conquered on the streets and in struggle, not in the polls. We have to confront Male-Chauvinism unified and in solidarity, not voting.[6]
Our task is to launch a strong campaign, through the bases of our class, the 99% of the population, to confront the attitudes Trump vindicates, and to explain the right to abortion and reproductive health have been under attack for over 15 years; and the solution to this problem is in our hands, in our struggle, and not in the bourgeois politicians, which Hillary also represents. The fact that Hillary is a woman and gets to be president does not guarantee the right of working women, as she, like Trump, makes part of the 1% that exploit and control the world.
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Notes:
[1]http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/08/politics/donald-trump-cnn-megyn-kelly-comment/
[2]http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/08/politics/donald-trump-cnn-megyn-kelly-comment/
[3]https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/multiple-women-accuse-donald-trump-of-making-sexual-advances/2016/10/13/3862fab0-9140-11e6-9c52-0b10449e33c4_story.html
[4] http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-new-york-times-allegations-229705
[5] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/
[6] http://litci.org/es/opresiones/mujeres/quien-tiene-derecho-al-aborto-en-estados-unidos/
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Translation: Sofia Ballack.
