While all you out owls remained glued to your television sets awaiting the announcement of who would be become our next president, I remained glued to my pillow. I was probably amongst the few Americans who actually went to bed that night. I couldn't bring myself to stay up. I knew if I had I would have easily stress ate back on the twenty pounds I just lost by consuming an entire carton of Oreo's. I also knew if I stayed up my boyfriend would more than likely call and cancel his TV service as I gave him a ten minutes speech like clock work every ten minutes. (Clearly I'm the political one in the relationship). There was also the potential that I would wake up the neighbors, and at that point I'd feel bad because they have kids that get on the school bus early in the morning. Lastly, I didn't stay up because my heart was about to burst out of my chest and travel to Washington!
However, I did wake up every two hours and refresh my phone for the latest count of electoral votes. Do you have any idea how hard it is to go back to sleep about that?!
So now it's been practically a week since the results came in and I had hoped it'd be old news at this point. Unfortunately, that is not so. People are just as stirred up today as they were a year ago when Trump announced his proposition to run for U.S. president. The only difference is then they thought he stood no chance of actually winning, but this week they found the complete opposite to be true.
Amongst our generation is a rare group of voters. It's the rarity of those millennial women who are actually daring enough to not phased by the election of Mr. Donald Trump. I saying "daring" because he's a proposed monster, right? Or at least that's what the majority of the latest news headlines read.
In my book, Trumps win should be a celebration of millennial women no longer being deceived by the potential falsified and misleading media. We are arriving at our own opinion, despite what the status quo of emotions may be.
Your mouth is probably hitting the floor as you think millennial women are uneducated and clueless, "poor girls." However, I'm sure the vast majority of us are fully aware of the deemed horrific words that have flown out of our now president's mouth. Yet, we are not phased. Perhaps because this is not the first time we've heard them.
These days I'm more concerned with my country's ability to say such cruel, harsh, and repulsive things as they turn against each other, as opposed to turning towards each other. I'm more worried about the temper tantrum we seem to develop when things don't go our way. I'm more appalled that I watched a presidential debate unfold through bashing, degrading, and a contest of who could make the biggest joke out of each others shortcomings.
Many watched the debates as if it were a bad episode of stand up's on Comedy Central, as opposed to the searching of our next leader.
Our so quick to be feminist groups in society tell me I should vote for a woman to be president, simply for the fact that I too am woman. Once our country was divided by race, so now we divide by gender?
Regardless of who won the election, their win should mean unity for America, not critics, harsh words, and split decisions.
Aside from that, I know President Trump has mocked women's weight by declaring them to be "fat." I know he's slept with women and tried to sleep with women. I know he's probably labeled them as sexy, hot, beautiful, and additionally over sexualized them. But I know he is not alone, never has been and sadly never will be.
This is not our president, this is our society!
Women are degraded, shamed, won, sold, bought, flaunted, exposed, revealed, and sexualized every time we turn on radio, flip on our TV, look at a magazine, or shop in a store. Our world is filled with Victoria's Secret barely clothed scandalous models, Lil' Wayne and Drake's sex lyrics, Hooters dining experiences, and billboards plastered with Abercrombie & Fit toothpick sized models.
I'm not afraid that this is my president, I'm afraid that this is my world.
I've read the media headlines. I've listened to the feminist arguments. I've heard the debates. I can imagine the words Trump uttered he never thought would come back to haunt him. I can also imagine that each of us have said a few words we hope do not come back to haunt us. I can't say why exactly in those moments he couldn't stop himself from saying those things, but I know I've had trouble biting my tongue before.
You can tell me Trump does not support overweight women, but I know he'd support the possible life that could be growing inside of them. To me, a baby's physical heartbeat is more important than a couple of verbally questionable words.
The media thinks Trump feels as if women are objects, how hypocritical, because so does the media. As I'm sure do the tabloids, some young men, some old men, some companies as they blast their bodies across billboards, and shockingly I'm sure so do some more politicians.
The truth is, every millennial woman knows someone like Trump.
Everyone has human nature and human tendencies. We cannot put our president on a pedestal while we await a level of perfection that our society has denied them to ever be capable of producing. No matter who won, no matter what party, there would be flaws.
The atmosphere our culture has created for the young to be born into and the old to become susceptible to does not have limits. Unlike our society, it's not prejudice. No one is above making error, having immoral thoughts, or drowning in a web of lies.
When it comes down to it, I support America, not a single sole candidate. Therefore, no matter who is in office I will extend a hand of support as I could only wish nothing less than the best for our nation. Wishing our president bad would be wishing our nation bad.
Trump's win doesn't mean millennial women will be exposed, it means our millennial environment has been exposed.
Maybe that's what scares us the most about this election. It's not that a business man with no political background is sitting in the oval office. It's that our culture's morals walking out the door long before Trump ever thought about entering it, and sadly we just realized it.
