At the time I was living in Germany and I was talking to a friend who is just about to graduate with two business degrees from Cal Poly SLO. It was in November, right after the election and we were discussing what the new president elect meant for women’s rights.
Something she said to me has paced the back wall of my mind since our conversation. She said that what Trump does and gets away with sets the precedent for what is ok for young men to do and get away with, on a global scale.
Her point was haunting… Here’s someone who is now in the most powerful position in the world, and he’s ‘allegedly’ assaulted women. Does this make it ok in the minds of young men to do the same thing? Does it plant the idea, if he can get away with it, can I?
Our conversation then drifted to a more personal fear she had. She’s about to enter the business world, notorious for it’s misogynist actions already. But would this change the climate as she entered even more so? She feared this was inevitable, and this was so disheartening.
No women should fear a professional group they apart of. Fear of assault and harassment, these are things that should not exist in any professional setting. But they do, and they will continue.
Right now, our actions and how we react to the current atmosphere that Trump creates determines the direction that the whole world heads. This isn’t an American problem, this is a global problem. We have to be conscious that our president needs to be held accountable, because he’s on the world’s most watched stage, performing terribly.