In recent years, America’s growing political polarization has been no secret. Compromise has become difficult to come by as both sides grow further apart. There is perhaps no better example of this separation than the 2024 presidential election.
The build up to this year’s election was predicated on an immense animosity between the Republican and Democratic parties. With such divisive issues on this year’s ballot like reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigration, many Americans felt as though their livelihoods were up for debate.
Regardless of where you personally stand on the political spectrum, it is clear that the results of this election have been greatly disappointing to millions of people. Many now look to the next four years with anxiety and fear, as they aren’t sure where their rights may lie.
However, some people on the winning side seemingly fail to empathize with the hurt that has been felt on the left. One of the loudest among them being political live-streamer, Nick Fuentes.
A clip of Fuentes reacting to the results of the election has gained popularity for its overwhelmingly misogynistic message. Part of his speech included, “It’s your body, my choice and men win again. Men win again.”
A big point of contention between the parties has been the idea of reproductive rights, especially access to abortion. The pro-choice movement has gained popularity in recent years with the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which returned legislation on abortion back to the states. This has led to many red-leaning states implementing some form of an abortion ban.
A popular pro-choice slogan is, “my body, my choice,” which is intended to communicate that a woman should have the right to choose what she does with her own body. Fuentes’, “your body, my choice,” is a clear parody of this phrase, and it makes a mockery of the entire movement. It also shows how he views women as inferior, and how he feels men are entitled to women’s bodies.
Sophomore Katie Walsh says, “I think it’s honestly a very odd statement… What he says puts down women to a level beyond my comprehension. It’s almost as if he’s saying ‘women are always going to be below men.” She goes on to say, “To say that is to take a stance that’s not only against abortion, but also a stance that is against women as a whole. He’s like a child who is rubbing it in someone’s face that they won a game.”
Senior Aleeza Syed says, “I find [the clip] absolutely repulsive. Women have been struggling for their own bodily autonomy for so long. This clip feels like a slap in the face.”
The overall tone of Fuentes’ clip was very immature. There is nothing inherently wrong with celebrating or being happy when your presidential candidate wins, but to do this in a way that actively pushes down an entire group of people is not only unnecessary, but also extremely irresponsible.
Fuentes went on to say, “There will never, ever be a female president. Never. There will never be a female president, ever. It’s over. Glass ceiling? Dude, it’s a ceiling made of […] bricks. You will never break it. Your stupid face keeps hitting the brick ceiling. We will keep you down forever. You will never control your own bodies.”
The concept of the glass ceiling refers to an invisible, systemic, barrier that prevents a demographic, particularly women, from advancing in their careers. To refer to the glass ceiling as being made of bricks, saying that it’s impenetrable, and that men will always keep women down forever, is incredibly degrading and an obscene display of misogyny.
Freshman Juliet Brinkley says, “I think he’s basically implying all females are in his control and therefore beneath him and others in power. It’s honestly astounding how he alienated half of the US population.”
It’s one thing to think this way in private, but Nick Fuentes is a public figure. He has a personal connection to Trump, having been invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner in 2022. This connection gives Fuentes credibility among other right-wing conservatives. The way he acts, the things he says, it has influence.
According to the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD), online harassment towards women had already increased during the build up to the election. From late October, the ISD noted a rise in the volume of mentions of phrases like “repeal the 19th” and different variations of “get back to the kitchen” across multiple social media platforms targeting women. However, Fuentes’ phrase, “your body, my choice” saw a massive spike across these platforms beginning November 5th.
Fuentes clearly has the power of influence; his phrase inspired a new wave of hate faced by women online. Imagine how he could influence young boys. Hatred isn’t something people are born with, it is taught, and Fuentes is spewing an almost unbelievable amount of hate with every word he says. He is normalizing this kind of thinking, making young boys believe it’s okay to think this way, to speak this way. Not only is he normalizing this obscene misogyny for young boys, but he’s normalizing it for young girls as well.
It seems as though, from the moment a girl is brought into this world, she is faced with some form of sexism at every turn. Whether it be something small, like being gifted a cleaning toy set for her birthday, or being told that boys are only mean to her because they like her, to being constantly underestimated in school or in her career. There is no escaping patriarchal ideals, but there has always been the consolation of how far society has come. So many women have fought so hard for their rights, only for men like Nick Fuentes to spread harmful rhetoric that has the potential to set us so far back as a society.
Sophomore Emma Baildon says, “That clip makes me feel sort of hopeless for our future, because there are more and more people with that opinion coming into power. If I was a little girl watching that clip I would be scared for the health of myself and any other woman I knew.”
