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What does the Trump government mean for women around the world?

What does the Trump government mean for women around the world?

What does the Trump government mean for women around the world?

What does the Trump government mean for women around the world?

20th January marked a new era in the history of the United States of America and the world. The President-elect Donald Trump’s oath taking ceremony was one that the entire world had its eyes on, mainly due to the controversies that have been surrounding him both pre- and post- the 2016 Presidential elections. Most of the future cabinet had been announced and two dozen democrats said that they wouldn’t  attend the inauguration ceremony as a protest against Trump’s attack on Civil Rights’ icon John Lewis and others. One of the major controversies throughout the Trump campaign were the derogatory comments he passed on women and his policies which would affect the feminine population adversely. So here’s analyzing what the Trump Government can mean for women in the US and the world.

 

A Racist to the Core

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Regardless of what he says when questioned about his image as a racist, Donald Trump’s past record is enough to ensure that he is nothing but just that. For someone who first appeared in the pages of New York Times in the 1970s for racial discrimination, he hasn’t changed much over the years, proof of which are his statements where he called Mexicans “Rapists” and promoted an all out ban on Muslims from entering America. As if being from the minority gender isn’t enough for women, being from a minority race is another one of their sins now. Although these statements can be regarded as that of a bad speaker or a racially insensitive person, if you look into his track record he can be established as a full blown racist. Being the head of a government, one cannot afford to hold biases against citizens of the country they are running and the attitude that the President-elect has affects everyone who isn’t a “white-American male”.

 

Support for Anti-Abortion Laws

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We all have the right to decide what we can, and cannot do with our body. Denying the right of deciding whether a fetus stays inside a woman’s womb forces the ‘unwilling to bear the unwanted’. The future that awaits the women of today, does not seem very bright as someone who believes that women should have “some form of punishment” for seeking an abortion, has been elected President of the most powerful nation in the world. Overturning Roe v. Wade was one of the agendas on the President-elect’s list that would increase the opportunities for states to limit abortion rights. The laws that the Trump government makes in this regard, won’t be limited to the female population of the US as they are expected to reinstate the “Global Gag Rule” or the Mexico City policy, which enables them to cut the funding to any foreign aid that provides abortion services. If you think what Trump opines on an issue doesn’t matter much, let me tell you that the people who surround and will help him make decision are no better, with the Vice President- elect stating that he wants to see Roe v. Wade on the “ash heap of history” and has been an arch-enemy of reproductive rights in his state.

 

Misses the mark on Paid Family Leave

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In an interview with NBC News in 2004, Trump went on record to say that pregnancy was’ “a wonderful thing for the woman, it’s a wonderful thing for the husband, it’s certainly an inconvenience for the person that is running a business” and this I believe should settle all doubts. Although the Trump government does plan on bringing Paid Family Leave into action, their policies ensure more discrimination than before. With the leave being extended to women alone, employers would avoid hiring women. If we look at the more ethical side of things, this even goes on to strengthen the stereotype that mother should be the primary caregiver in all households.  In cases where children are being raised by single fathers, caregiving goes beyond the immediate period surrounding childbirth. When the government starts thinking from the point-of-view of the businessmen, citizens as a whole suffer. Not only this, MNCs that have become the main employers of the 21st century would carry out these discriminations in their staffing process even more freely.

 

Flaky Support for Women’s Health Issues

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Another agenda on Trump’s government’s list was defunding Planned Parenthood, which is a non-profit organization which provides reproductive health services globally. Despite acknowledging that the move would decrease the access to basic healthcare services for women and families with low income, the President-elect has been known to have said that he preferred to shut down the government rather than fund the organization. This doesn’t just end on Planned Parenthood as the newly elected government had repeatedly promised during their campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, which provides health insurance to millions of people and includes coverage for birth control at no additional costs. Although Trump promises that Obamacare will be replaced by an act even stronger that would ensure “insurance for everybody,” no confirmed plan has been put into action yet while repealing the Affordable Care Act is already in motion despite concerns about the potential financial costs of the same.

 

Equal Pay Goes Underwater

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Denying equal pay to workers for the same amount of work based on the sex of the employee is an inequality which most would believe to be extinct in the mid-1900s. Yet as surprising as it is, this still exists in many countries around the world, one of which is the United States, one of the most progressive nations on the globe. The President-elect has famously quoted, “if they do the same job, they should get the same pay” but legislating equal pay isn’t something that he supports. Despite the future first daughter, Ivanka Trump’s promise that her father would fight for equal pay and gender equality, the President-elect himself has always been elusive on what policies, if any, he would promote. Evidence, however, indicate that not only will the equal pay issue not be brought up under the Trump Government, it is also regarded as stupid with one of Trump’s campaign field organizer, Elizabeth Mae Davidson, filing a discrimination complaint alleging that men working at the same position as hers were earning more and given choicer assignments than women were.

 

A Full-Blown Sexist

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The head of a country’s government has to not only run it but become a role model for the citizens of the nation and the world, especially if you are elected President of the world superpower. For someone who considers “‘P****-grabbing’ and being drawn to kissing women ‘without even waiting’” as mere locker room talks, the duties of being a role model seem very far-fetched. If you think it ends here, I’ve got news for you. During a deposition in 2011, when lawyer Elizabeth Beck requested a break to pump breast milk, Trump walked out of the room telling Beck she was “disgusting,” an incident that he “doesn’t dispute”. The owner of the Miss USA and Miss Universe beauty pageant has also admitted spying on naked contestants, like everything else he has said wasn’t enough. While many would defend him as someone who doesn’t think before speaking and doesn’t support any of the sexist remarks he has made, I personally don’t know many fathers who would go on-air to accept that they see their daughters as nothing but “pieces of ass” that they would date if they weren’t related to them.

 

 

The Like-Minded Cabinet

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No, the people who would help him run the government are no better. Past records of most legislators on his team show their lack of concern for women, people of color, queer people, religious minorities, and immigrants. Among these cabinet members are Jeff Sessions (future-Attorney General), Tom Price (future-Healthcare and Human Services secretary) and Mike Pompeo (future-CIA Director) who all voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, that funded shelters and services for victims of domestic violence because of their bias towards the LGBTQ Community whose victims would now be protected. Senator Sessions, Representative Price, and Elaine Chao have all had a history of opposing all Acts that would ensure an end to the ongoing pay discrimination, are also part of Trump’s team. On top of it all, all these names along with Betsy DeVos (future-Education secretary), Nikki Haley (future-Ambassador to the UN), and Ben Carson (future-Housing and urban Development secretary) are long-time foes of the abortion laws. The Trump’s cabinet’s discrimination extends to the issues of Contraception, Medicare, Medicaid, and Childcare and Paid Family Leave as well.

 

Future doesn’t seem to be very bright for the women in America and let me warn you, my reader, that being from a different country isn’t going to help you either. As much as we try to deny this, what the United States does impacts the whole world with them not only funding the major organization and many countries but being a powerful part of international organizations like the UN whose decisions influence the globe. The purpose of writing articles like this is not to scare you of what’s to come but to empower you with the realization that even if the future turns against us we need to keep working and striving towards what we feel is right, for there is no evil that cannot be defeated by a determined population.

 

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