Why Would White Women Vote For A Man So Widely Accused Of Sexual Abuse?
By Chanelle Gallant
As a sexual assault survivor, I want other white women survivors to understand that rape culture and racism are a package deal.
Like many, I woke up the day after the U.S. election with a sense of dread, grief, and disbelief pounding in my aching head. I felt a kind of wordless devastation, knowing that in a million ways, so many people were going to suffer badly, and that some wouldn’t survive this.
Also rattling around in my body was low-key panic. I’m a survivor of sexual violence and of everyday rape culture. Trump brags about doing to women what men have done to me, with impunity. The way he swaggers and boasts reminds me of the guys who enjoyed the look of fear they’d see on my face when they followed me home at night; he reminds me of the ones who gloated about how easily they knew they could get away with hurting me.
Everything about Trump makes me short of breath, afraid, filled with gut-churning revulsion. I want to block out his face and voice, but even when I ask the cab driver to turn off the news, I can still see and hear him, the smug grin of this creepy excuse for a human being.
