Millions of women (and men) took to the streets in cities around the world yesterday to give a big middle finger to Donald Trump, and it was a lovely sight to behold.
Whether you attended one of these marches or not, give yourself a big round of applause for all the acts of resistance you engaged in over the past week. Get some extra sleep. Treat yourself to something nice. You deserve it, dammit!
Feel free to share your favorite self-care ideas below.
Looking at my Facebook newsfeed, you’d think Trump had lost with how butthurt my conservative/Trumpista friends are responding.
“Everyone has to just shut up! He’s president now!”
“Everyone has to just stop talking about politics! This is the greatest nation in the world!”
On and on at least 5 or 6 different variations on that. Basically sticking their fingers in their ears screaming “nyah nyah nyah nyah I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
You would think these people would act slightly more triumphant. They’re acting just like their big baby tantrum-throwing Orange leader.
*I hope it’s not offensive to use the term butthurt?
These are the same people that wouldn’t shut up about “Obummer” and how awful he was when he was in office and wailing on and on about FREEZE PEACH. How strange.
(Incidentally, though his term is over, the fact that Obama is still around and after a well-deserved rest is apparently not going to passively take all this happening is a great comfort. He’s still a relatively young man and there’s still a lot of fight left to him yet.)
They’re just whining so much more than I anticipated! I’d have thought I’d see more “Oh, it’s a great day today!” and things of that stripe.
It kind of amazes me AND makes me chuckle ruefully all at once.
I’ve rekindled my crossword habit ever since the election. Also, going to our city’s March yesterday felt soooooo great and was so heartening. It just made me want to do more too.
@dreemr
They really thought this would be enough of a setback that we’d just give up, roll over, and accept subservience. They will always underestimate us because they believe everyone in the world is weaker and more afraid than they are.
In the words of a (male) friend of mine “there are a whole lot of middle aged women with signs that say ‘pussy’ on them!”
This is someone who made it his new years resolution to be more politically engaged. He was disappointed at how few men were at the march, comparatively speaking.
Whereas I was busy noticing how white it was.
It really was inspiring/rousing/heartening to be at the march on Saturday, and it’s been great seeing all the photos – not just of the massive (unprecedented, even?) turnouts in big cities and DC, but also of all the tiny towns where a significant chunk of the population marched in solidarity. Saturday was an important reminder that even with the institutional power that Trump and his pals now have, one thing they don’t have is the support of the American people.
@dreemr
Yeah this seems to be a running theme across social media since the election. Like, a lot of Trump supporters probably didn’t even want Trump in a position of power so much as they wanted a chance to feel superior and to piss-off liberals. So now, with so many on the left activated and emboldened by the results, many Trump supporters actually got the opposite of what they wanted.
I think you misunderstand where their joy comes from, @dreemr. Electing Trump doesn’t make them happy, even conflict doesn’t make them happy – conquest makes them happy. Conquest and subjugation.
We’ve shown them that we are neither conquered nor subjugated, and that their latest attempt to do that failed horribly.
In my darker moments, I think they really do take glee in the desolation of others, in stamping down on those who are outside of their group. They aren’t even looking for a challenge or a good fight. They’re looking for victory for their side, and for everything else to be enslaved and ruined.
Their joy is our misery, so be joyful, everyone. That’s what defies them the most.
In my opinion, at least!
@Mike – they do seem to be most upset that we didn’t just roll over and instead have mobilized.
@Scildfreja – I think you’re onto something as well. They didn’t just want victory, they wanted our utter defeat and anhilation. I think they thought everyone would just have to shut up once big Daddy Trumpkin took over, and they seem completely dismayed that that hasn’t happened.
Well, this protest movement escalated quickly.
I didn’t plan for marching on Saturday, in part because I’m not American or a woman. Until the last moment I wouldn’t even have guessed there was a march here in Helsinki.
Thanks to everyone protesting against fascism, anti-environmentalism and plain stupidity.
You do realise that those marches, as succesfull as they may be, acomplished nothing, do you ?
Because the man is still president.
He and his minion are still ready to create a fascist america and after that, a fascist western world. And saying “not my president” make them angry, but it doesn’t make them defeated.
The truth is, I think it will renforce there conviction that we must be killed because we oppose them.
Uderstand me : I do not think that the marches was bad idea. I just say that we shouldn’t rejoyce ourselves. Bad times are coming. I do not think that we can solve the current situation without civils wars in neraly every western nations. And fact is that they are well armed to fight us. They have the army, they have the police, and in your country, nearly all of them own at least one gun. We may have more scientist than they do, but when I see things like gamergate, when I see how many computer scientist are joining up with the mra and the ws, I’m not so sure. So I feel like we are laking firepower if we want to efficiently fight the fascist. And I think that we are going to lose badly. This time Russia won’t be there to save us.
So no, I find no reason to rejoyce.
Let’s not act like we’re scared of the losers. Like all terrorists, they’re cowards.
Mycroft, I really really really don’t think it’s going to come to that. Trump’s supporters are already abandoning him in droves, and Republican politicians will abandon him once it’s clear that associating themselves with him might cost them their seats. If Trump gets desperate enough to actually try to wage war on half of America — actually well more than half — I don’t think the generals would follow his orders, and neither would soldiers.
Demonstrations like the ones we saw this weekend are basically votes of no confidence for Trump. The larger and more vocal his opponents are, the quicker his political allies will abandon him.
@Mycroft
I disagree. The purpose of the marches wasn’t to unseat Trump, so they weren’t unsuccessful.
They were to remind us of the following:
– we are not alone
– there is hope
– democracy is not just about voting, it’s about making your voice heard
– women acting together is powerful
– it’s not just women that have our backs
– we have the best signs
I’d say the marches were thoroughly successful. This is not the end, this is the beginning.
Even if Mycroft were right in that the Trumpite won’t be deterred, the protest still do something. It will force Trump to assume being a fascist dictator way faster, which itself may start to actually create harder resistance to him. That’s not a *good* outcome mind you, but it accelerate the resolution of the Orange Agent problem.
May have been answered in a previous thread, but I wonder if the FOIA gives any kind of provisions into seeing Trumps tax returns…
Well, I do not think its political allies are what matter. They already have lost the confidence of the people. It’s its supporters that are the problem. Maybe the generals wont follow his orders. But the soldier will, because most of them believe in his lies. And the cops are the same. Most of the fascist want to crush us physicaly. They just wait for an excuse to do so.
It appears to me that his supporters are being reinforced in their opinion by the marches and the protest. But its maybe linked to the fact that I look at the worst of them. Do you have evidence that large part of his electorate are leaving him ? I didn’ find any. It would be a realy pleasant new.
I hope you are right, but it’s hard for me to be optimistic.
@RosieLa
In contrast to your friend’s view, I felt the proportion of men was about right.
Looking at who the media chose to quote in pieces about the March, men were over-represented compared with their attendance. This is partly because it’s natural for a journalist to seek a story and “this is a women’s March, why are you here?” is one, albeit quite an obvious and lazy one. But we also live in a patriarchal society, and people who aren’t examining their assumptions will find a male voice more authoritative. Can you imagine who would have been quoted if the attendance had been closer to 50:50? It’s an educational experience for men to find themselves in a minority, and supporting the voice rather than being the voice.
I would have been sad if the men had been a rarity. Their presence meant that people who took the time to research the March got the message. It reinforced the message that we were marching in solidarity on a number of issues, some of which directly affect us and some of which don’t.
So I think “about a fifth” was like Goldilock’s porridge (or rather baby bear’s!).
I agree, in London at least (that’s where I was, can’t speak for elsewhere) it was quite white. I can think of lots of potential reasons (the publicity may not have got out of the white feminist bubble, BME people have historically had a less positive experience of protesting, there are socio-economic barriers to marching which would have deterred lots of people of all colours – and that’s just off the top of my head), but I’m not in a position to speak intelligently about it beyond that, so I shall leave it there.
ETA Sorry for all the capital Ms.
To add to what Weatherwax said, one of the most powerful human emotions is the feeling of being part of something larger than yourself. It’s hard to feel that when you’re behind a computer screen. It’s much easier to feel that when you’re surrounded by tens of thousands of pussy-hatted badasses who get all the same pop-culture references that you do. People discover that the most beautiful word in the English language is the word “we.” This is what nations are formed from.
On Saturday, that’s what we saw. A lot of people turned up, hoping that they wouldn’t be the only one. We discovered that not only were we not the only one, we’re a very long way from the only one. We aren’t going to just go home now. There will be a next time.
This is one of the reasons why the carnival atmosphere of a good march is so important. Music, banners, costumes and singing all help to motivate everyone to do it again next time, and that gives the movement sustained strength.
Concerned about violence from the losers who love to spout violent rhetoric? Sure.
Afraid of them? Not even a little bit.
@ mycroft
I’m sometimes a bit sceptical about the efficacy of protests. However this feels like one of the expections, for all sorts of reasons.
Firstly there such a broad level of support. It’s much harder for people to dismiss the protestors as ‘hippies and layabouts’. Now that’s an unfair criticism of course, but unfortunately it’s one that’s often made by TPTB and bought into by the media.
There’s also the fact that the news cycle is now about the protests rather than the inauguration. The protestors have shifted control of the agenda away from Trump.
And perhaps the most important consequence of that is that it’s attacked Trump at his weakest point; his pettiness. See how riled he is about the fact that the protestors outnumbered the people attending his inauguration. That’s a real bugbear for him. He’s a product of television shows. He lives by viewing figures. Hence how he can’t bear being beaten in the ratings by Obama.
Now his press secretary is forced to go before the media and state blatant, and easily disprovable, lies. It was a scene reminiscent of ‘Comical Ali’ the spokesman for Saddam during the gulf war. And the media have picked up on that.
It seems to me that the quickest way of getting rid of Trump may be to laugh him out of office. Treat him like the joke he is until he just can’t bear it any more. He’s playing into our hands there, and the protests have really helped that.
(Of course that doesn’t get rid of the rest of them, but it’s a start)
I feel it is highly likely that Trump will pull a Palin and step down after a year or two.
Whether that’s a good thing or not, we’ll have to see.
The VP of Trump is more frightening than Trump to me.
Ohlmann: Personally I assume that Pence is taking on the majority of the presidential duties behind the scenes anyway. I don’t necessarily think getting rid of Trump solves all the problems with his government because of that, but it can’t hurt either.