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Associated Press
Van Nortwick: Trump's sexism sets example for others
Associated Press President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Poland's President Andrzej Duda after arriving at the Royal Castle, Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Warsaw.
Mika Brzezinski waits for an elevator in the lobby at Trump Tower, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, in New York.
President Donald Trump has used a series of tweets to go after Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, who've criticized Trump on their MSNBC show "Morning Joe."
Associated Press
▶ MADISON VAN
NORTWICK
@mavnortwick13
I see examples of sexism every day, which is infuriating, but I think the most frustrating thing is having to prove to someone that sexism actually does exist.
Sexism nonbelievers have a magical power of being incapable of seeing blatant sexism in front of them. I say that this is a super power because it seems completely unrealistic.
Sexism is so deeply ingrained in our society. We see sexism in our media, in marketing of everyday products, in the workplace, and in our everyday language, it is almost impossible to
escape.
Trying to reason with a sexism nonbeliever is hard. Sexism is rarely tangible, it is hard to point to one solid thing and say, "Look, here is sexism." Instead, it is the accumulation of comments, attitudes and behaviors.
Proving the reality of sexism to a nonbeliever has become exponentially easier since Donald Trump became president.
Trump is sexist, and his ability to win the electoral college and become president proves
at least to some extent that sexism is not a greatly diminishing quality, but instead is a clear example that you can be sexist and still hold the highest position in the world.
Trump is the tangible
thing we can reference as an example of sexism.
Trump recently let his sexism show when tweeting at Mika Brzezinski, one
Trump referenced her menstruation and blamed it for her harsh questions.
The president is threatened by women
The President is threatened by women with power who oppose him, and chooses to insult their looks and femininity rather than their ability to do their job."
of the hosts of Morning Joe calling her "dumb as a rock," and insulting her looks, saying "she was bleeding badly from a face-lift."
Trump has a history of using bloody imagery when insulting women. When going after Megyn Kelly from Fox News,
with power who oppose him, and chooses to insult their looks and femininity rather than their ability to do their job. He is obsessed with women's looks and insults their appearance when he really wants to insult them as people.
Trump has insulted other women's looks in the
past as well, like comedian Rosie O'Donnell, Miss Universe Alicia Machado, reporter Natasha Stoynoff, singer Cher, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington, supermodel Heidi Klum and so many more. There is actually a sexism tracker that documents every sexist comment Trump has made since the 1980s to now.
Trump has repeatedly thrown sexism into our faces, making it impossible to ignore its existence today.
Both Republicans and Democrats cannot stand behind his sexist comments and will hopefully start holding him accountable for his disgusting behavior, so that everyday people become accountable as
well.
I hope that seeing Trump in power will be the shock that this country needs. I hope he will be the thing we can point to and say, "look, here is sexism," that will show nonbelievers that this is real, this is a problem, and that we need to make a change from the top down to eliminate sexism.
Maybe it's idealistic, but maybe Donald Trump is exactly what we need to say enough is enough.
Madison Van Nortwick is a junior from Denver studying English.