Aftermath and fallout from
the worst election ever

> What we learned from Trump

Cazzy Lewchuk
Opinions Editor

 

y the time you read this, the US will
have voted in the next President.
It will likely and hopefully be Hillary
Clinton, defeating an opponent whose
sheer incompetence alone might’ve
killed us all. Donald Trump’s racist

rhetoric, fascist overtones, and “outsider”

approach have made this election the
most ridiculous in modern history. I’m
writing under the assumption that he
was defeated this week. If the US did
the unthinkable and actually made this
man president, well, it was nice knowing
you all, and I’m sure Ill have something
profanity-laced to say in the next issue.
Trump may have lost the election,
but his influence, supporters, and
image remains strong, perhaps more
than ever before. If his loss was narrow,
there is a slim chance he'll run again
in 2020, and we will go through this
entire nightmare once more. Many
supporters have threatened to induce
violence and riots if he does not win.
Likely, any serious action will quickly
die out through apathy and law
enforcement shortly after the election,
but the brutal ideologies will remain.
Trump’s campaign and much of his
popular support has been highlighted by
the sheer racism and bigotry involved.

Prejudice
towards
Muslims,
immigrants,
foreigners,
Jews, Latinos,
and African-
Americans
is prominent
amongst his
supporters
and in many
of his own
comments.
He was
endorsed
by the Ku
Klux Klan
and refused
to disavow them straightaway. This
campaign will go down in history as
an unprecedented one that normalized
white supremacy on a level not seen
since the Civil Rights Movement.
Racial tensions and prejudices are
certainly common across the country,
but the Trump campaign reminded us
of how many Americans still refuse to
acknowledge human rights and equality
for all. Not all of his supporters are
racist, but many are, and by showing
support, they are condoning racism.
The Trump campaign shows global
tensions that are reflected in other
democratic areas. The Philippines have

 

a newly-
elected
president
quite similar
to Trump in
his actions
and cult of
personality.
In Britain,
the
population
has voted

to exit the
European
Union in
fear over
immigration
and

ia wonkette.com

globalization—with may supporting
racism and violent revolution (Anti-
Brexit MP Jo Cox was assassinated during
the campaign). Far-right nationalist
parties are gaining support and winning
elections all across Europe. Trump is

a powerful and extreme example of
what happens when these sentiments
are reflected, leading to millions of
people demanding the rhetoric in the
most powerful country in the world.

If we took away nothing else from
this election, it’s that America really
will come within striking distance
of actually making Donald Trump
President. What seemed unbelievable

Stop sexualizing women’s boobs

> If fact, stop sexualizing women, period

Jessica Berget
Staff Writer

 

oth men and women have breasts.

This may come as a surprise to
some people, or even make them
uncomfortable, but it’s true. They
both have breast tissue, areolas, and
nipples. So why is it that women are
subjected to wearing uncomfortable
bras (or boob shackles, as I like to
call them) and censoring their own
bodies while men can walk around
topless? Well, women’s breasts are
definitely larger, they produce milk
for their offspring, and they are
hyper sexualized to the point where
women are shamed for using them in
any context that is not for sexual or
visual pleasure. See the difference?

You would think in a society
where women’s breasts are plastered
on magazines, advertisements,
film and television that exposing
one’s boobs would be socially
acceptable, right? Wrong.

Just last year, Farah Soomro was
asked to leave a Victoria’s Secret store
because she was breastfeeding in
the store and it was making guests
uncomfortable. A store that sells bras
and has pictures of women in bras
should be more accepting of a woman
using her breasts to feed her child.
Breastfeeding is the most natural
thing in the world. It is literally the

 

very reason women have breasts at all.
However, the sexualization of boobs
makes it hard to remember that those
sacks of fat on your chest are meant for
something other than being ogled at.
Not surprisingly, the sexualization
of women’s breasts comes with
troubling effects. Remember how
shocked everyone was when Angelina
Jolie admitted to having a double
mastectomy to minimize her chances
of breast cancer? Most of the responses

Image via the Other Press

to this announcement were positive,
but others were not so supportive. Some
people openly mocked and shamed Jolie
for making this decision. Some even
claimed that she is not a real woman
anymore and that Brad Pitt should
divorce her on the grounds that she had
her breasts removed. There was also the
argument that she should have asked
her husband before carrying on with
the surgery, as if women do not have
any independent say in their bodily

not so long ago is now a terrifying
reality. It shows the lines many are ready
to cross to stand up for their political
orientations, and how ugly a federal
election can truly get. It shows that facts,
media analysis, level-headed criticism,
and rationality simply don’t matter to
so many when it comes to politics.

The right candidate can say and
do almost anything, and they will
lose minimal support in the process.
In January, before the primaries had
begun, Trump said “I could stand in
the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot
somebody and I wouldn't lose voters.”
This is probably not far from the truth.
Trump has condoned and done a lot
of horrible things, and people love
it. If he shot someone, his supporters
would somehow try to justify it.

With a serious Trump candidacy,
it shows anything can happen in
federal politics. A celebrity/actual
fascist can run and be supported by
millions. Campaigns run on extremism,
nationalism, and fear-mongering
will be tolerated and embraced by
the mainstream. People you love and
respect will flock to dangerous, ignorant
policies and ideologies. These are far
too common in America, and they
will continue to impact the country
in terrible ways. We may have won
the battle against Trump, but the
war against his legacy continues.

autonomy. When the sexualisation of

a body part becomes too prominent,
women are often dehumanized, and
their sexualized body parts are deemed
more important than the human being
they are physically attached to.

Not even children are safe from the
sexualization of breasts. | remember
when I was in fifth grade I had my
first talk about dress code at school.

It was the beginning of summer and

I was wearing shorts and a backless
top that tied up at the neck. Before the
school day even started I was pulled
into the office and told never to wear
that top to school again. The reason?
Boys might untie the back and expose
my nonexistent boobs. At the tender
age of ten I was taught to conceal and
be ashamed of the mammaries on my
chest that every person on earth is born
with, because mine would eventually
grow to be objects of sexual desire.

Women’s breasts are so sexualized
we can’t even use them for what
they were meant for without being
publicly shamed. Boobs actually serve
a biological and reproductive purpose,
so it seems unfair that women are
expected to hide them because they are
so fetishized. The next time you walk
by a woman publicly breastfeeding
her child and are at all offended by it,
you are taking part in the fetishization
of women’s breasts, and you may
want to reconsider your thinking.