Yes women can

“Yes we can” was the slogan during Obamas first presidential campaign. In the end we must admit that there were many things he couldn’t do, both due to own shortcomings, the interference and obstruction from the republican congress but also due to some aspects of the economy and globalisation that is beyond politicians control and influence. Still, there was a road forward and an ambition to move towards providing health care for more Americans and working with partners on the international arena to combat climate change. 

After Trumps inauguration speech and his first few (but already to many) days in office, we know that in contrast his path is one of distrust, despair and divide. But not only that, the blatant lies (not alt-facts) by both himself and his press secretary on the size of the crowd watching his inauguration or the more serious lie about voter fraud shows that we are entering a new world order where “newspeak" of the Orwellian grade will replace communication and dialogue. For this we must be prepared in order to resist normalising the attacks on democracy. 

Many will be hurt by Trumps at the same time impulse driven and strategically populist policies. Among them women who will loose health care, abortion rights and the fight for equal pay. But on a grander scale the worst looser will be the women in the developing world who will suffer a disproportionate amount of suffering from climate change, an issue that ceased to exist on the Whitehouse web page the minute Trump took office. 

But Trump couldn’t care less, there is little role for women in his world other than as adornments and supporters. Some of these supporters might be wealthy, filling up the coffers of the self declared but not verified billionaire (still no tax returns from Trump). Such donors and supporters might be paid of with a platform of influence, like the proposed secretary of education who can not even write a grammatically correct tweet.  

She is also a representative of the women who like Trump, mostly white and wealthy women who believe that they have little to loose from Trump and may be attracted to his patriarchal and chauvinist style. But that may change:

Those white women Trump voters allowed their race to trump their gender. They were a reminder that decades of Republican racist policies mixed with increasing Christian fundamentalism and bigotry had succeeded in turning women against their own interests. Those women think they will be protected from Republican patriarchy by allying themselves with it but nothing protects women from patriarchy.

After Friday comes Saturday and last Saturday was like no other in the USA and many other parts of the world. Engaged and enraged women in the thousand were marching together and with men who supported them. The thousands added upp to over 3 millions, a number that has been very well verified, in contrast to the uncounted and virtual masses Trump and his staff hallucinated about.

I think it is of huge significance that the start of the resistance to a large extent is driven by women. As stated above women are more affected by Trumps policies and it is thus less likely that this movement will be channeled into existing power structures. That said there is a huge need for organisation and activism to move from demonstrations in the streets to a powerful resistance. It will be a struggle at the same level as women's fight for voting rights and it will be a tough fight. It might be that Trump is correct in stating that there will a movement “like the world has never seen before”. But my hope and firm belief after Saturday is that this movement will not be his movement, it will be a struggle for justice, inclusiveness and liveable climate. Maybe Trump has managed to sow the wind but will reap the whirlwind.