Jessica Valenti
Stop Trying to Flip Female Trump Supporters
American sisterhood is a myth we need to ditch
The midterms were a feminist triumph: Tuesday was dominated by wins for women — women of color in particular — leading to a record-breaking number of women who will be serving in Congress. There was also a slew of notable firsts, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (the youngest woman ever elected to Congress), Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland (the first Native American women), and Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar (the first Muslim women). As Cecile Richards put it, “women were the heroes of this election.”
Some, however, were the villains.
While women were a driving force behind many of the Democrats’ successes, some were also responsible for some of the party’s major losses. After all, it was white female Republicans who brought wins home for Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis and, possibly, Brian Kemp. Despite efforts to reach across the aisle, the majority of white women who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 have not realized the error of their ways, and likely never will. The hope of changing these key voters’ minds by pointing out the craven bigotry of the GOP or the president’s distinct lack of moral compass was, and remains, a fantasy.
The truth is that white Republican…
