Why White Women voted for Pussy Grabber

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-president-women-voted-for-white-college-educated-working-class-reasons-terrifying-a7409596.html

First, women without an education are not protected from the worst expressions of sexism on a daily basis in the same way that women with an (in the US, incredibly expensive) college education are. Middle-class women in graduate roles may suspect that there are men in their midst who speak of them in the most revolting terms, or who question their abilities based on their gender, but they are far less likely to be directly exposed to those attitudes. In such circles, Donald Trump’s “locker room talk” tends to happen in male-only spaces, so for those women the terms that the President-elect used were shocking in their vulgarity. For some floating voters, it may have been a determining factor.

Not so for poorer women, whose communities do not include such a language filter, and who are more likely to hear these more coarse examples of misogyny every single day. When Donald Trump’s comments about women hit the headlines – he said, lest you need a refresher, that he could get away with grabbing a woman “by the pussy” because, when you’re famous and a white man, “you can do anything” – it was no surprise to them that he spoke in this manner. And, sadly, no barrier to office for them either. In fact, it may have even played into his electoral strategy; he came across as “just one of the boys”.

Repeat exposure to sexism such as this breeds familiarity rather than contempt. Of course this language is not acceptable, but to be treated as a second-class citizen, and abused verbally and sexually by the men around them, is routine for so many. The less economic power a woman has, the less social power she can exert in fighting back against such maltreatment. Sexist behaviour becomes normalised. Boys will be boys.

There’s another factor at work too. Working-class women without an education often find the only way they can exert power and control in their own lives is through their influence as mothers and matriarchs. It is quite understandable that those who have little financial freedom or opportunity seek to exploit social power in other ways, seek to protect that right to do so.