All over social media, American women are shaving their heads and swearing off sex with their partners in protest at Donald Trump’s re-election. Quoting the 4B movement, which originated in South Korea, they are urging other women to adopt the principles of no dating, no intercourse, no marriage and no children to ‘punish’ their menfolk for choosing Trump over Kamala Harris. Don’t get me wrong: I have serious reservations about Trump, as I’m sure anyone with half a brain does.
But the idea that his return to the White House will usher in an era of female repression equivalent to the kind of dystopian nightmare depicted in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is absurd. Yes, Trump has had many ‘women’ problems (see Stormy Daniels et al); yes, a Republican rump supports hardline policies on abortion; yes, his deputy called Harris “a childless cat lady”, but that was just banter (dare I say maybe even a joke, a concept that American liberals increasingly seem to have trouble processing). And besides, it was a lot less offensive than dismissing opposition supporters as ‘garbage’, which Joe Biden did.
But the idea that Trump will preside over a misogynist administration that will strip women of their rights, relegate them to the status of second-class citizens and chain them, barefoot and bleeding, to the kitchen sink is simply deluded. Also, it’s very narcissistic. America’s debt is $35.
85 trillion. There’s a hideous war in the Middle East don’t.
