Despite underlying tones of sexism, accusations of sexual assault and an abundance of what some refer to as “mansplaining,” Donald Trump was able to come out on top in the U.S. presidential election.
One Halifax university professor says American women should be “very worried” about what this means for the future of their country.
“My biggest worry is the fact that he can nominate and appoint Supreme Court justices. The right wing in the U.S. has wanted to overturn Roe vs. Wade since 1973,” said Dr. Meredith Ralston, women’s studies and political science professor at Mount Saint Vincent University.
“It would be devastating for women’s reproductive rights. If they can put a conservative judge on the Supreme Court, the court may actually be able to do that.”
Trump previously said during a presidential debate in October that the overturning of the seminal American legal case linked to abortion would happen “automatically” if he became president.
Ralston said she also has concerns over what Trump will do to reproductive rights, specifically in relation to his intentions to defund Planned Parenthood.
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While countries such as Great Britain and Germany are currently led by women, Ralston said the U.S. presidential election proves there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to gender equality in the political sphere.
“It comes down to not being able to vote for a woman. It reminds me of Flora MacDonald and 40 years ago and what happened to her.”
MacDonald ran in the 1976 PC leadership convention and fared far worse than expected despite being a favourite heading into the race.
“When people went in to vote they could not bring themselves to vote for a woman. Forty years have gone by and we’re still facing the same situation.
She said the sexist undertones throughout the campaign were unprecedented, adding she doesn’t think Bernie Sanders would have been met with the same criticisms.
“The tone of the campaign was so misogynistic. We’ve never seen anything like it.”
“The attacks that happened against her in all different forms from the Trump campaign … there’s no question that sexism and racism played a huge story in this.”
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Ralston said women entering politics are often met with unfair criticisms — something she said may have been the case when it came to Trump’s popularity over Clinton.
“Women politicians face huge problems in terms of double standards, so it’s not surprising to me that a woman candidate would be under that kind of catch-22 situation. She’s damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.”
She said throughout the campaign Clinton was often scrutinized over her looks, her clothing choices and her overall likeability.
“She’s being judged on two very different standards. One is the kind of masculine leader model and one is the feminine. And it’s very difficult for a woman politician to do both of those things. It’s a catch-22.”
She said while the results of Tuesday’s election are discouraging, she hopes it will inspire more women to get into politics.
“It’s very difficult to get women to run for political office and the misogyny of that campaign makes it even worse. Who wants to put themselves into that kind of situation where they’re bulled?” Ralston said.
“On the other hand, maybe it will mobilize people. But my worry is it will discourage people from ever getting involved.”
The minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Joanne Bernard, said she was “of course disappointed” by the election results in the States.
“I think it highlights that female politicians, female elected officials have to strive a little harder to attain success in where they want to go,” Bernard said.
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She said although both the province and country will continue to work closely with the U.S., she does wonder what a Trump presidency means for women.
“I’m a little concerned over some of the hard-fought rights that women have accomplished over the years.”
Bernard said the sexist and misogynistic treatment geared towards female politicians is not unique to Hillary Clinton and is an issue facing women around the world.
“It is unique to female politicians. It always has been.”
She said she believes the American people have spoken “loud and clear” and hopes Trump will work towards bringing the country together.
“I would hope that his demeanour and his language towards women would move to a level of respect. We’ll see how that goes in the next four years.”
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NDP MLA Lenore Zann said that she too was disappointed by the election results and like many women was hoping to see the first female president of the United States.
“I think that the entire campaign that was waged was an ugly one, a divisive one — full of racist comments and very misogynistic,” said Zann, adding she hopes the results will inspire women to fight even harder to better their communities.
“I believe we will and can do very, very well in the future. The Americans are about to find out why they made a big mistake by choosing Mr. Trump.”
Clinton addressed women specifically in her concession speech, telling them “nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion.”
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