ITV aired Donald Trump’s interview with Piers Morgan on Sunday, and the president shared one of the least surprising revelations about himself — he’s not a feminist.
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“No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist,” he told Morgan. “That would be, maybe, going too far. I’m for women. I’m for men. I’m for everyone. I think people have to go out, and they have to win. And women are doing great, and I’m happy about that.”
With this quote, Trump not only confirms the obvious fact of what his stance on feminism is, but he also proves that he doesn’t understand what the movement actually is.
TRUMP SAYS HE'S NOT A FEMINIST: @JoyVBehar reacts to the president saying "I'm for women, I'm for men": "Women are in trouble in the world. You need to be a feminist and put a spotlight on it … you don't have to talk about men in that case!" https://t.co/f8u2wc159S pic.twitter.com/ZowZJhZ6pb
— The View (@TheView) January 29, 2018
Feminism is the belief that women should have the same rights as men. It’s not a movement seeking superiority over men or one that only concerns itself with issues where women are centered — for example, when Barack Obama signed the BABIES Act into law, an act that required publicly accessible federal buildings to have changing stations in women’s and men’s bathrooms, this was a feminist victory. It was a win for men who are the primary (or only) caretakers of their children, or simply men who are out and about with their kids, as they now had a place to change their babies’ diapers; it was also a victory for women, in that this challenged the notion that childcare is mostly a mother’s responsibility.
In short, feminism is about gender equality. Obviously, since women are disadvantaged in society and are the gender that needs advocacy, it’s not surprising that the word is linguistically rooted in a term that brings women to mind — femininity.
Ultimately though, it’s irrelevant whether or not Trump actually understands what feminism is, because his long record of being a misogynist proves that he isn’t a feminist, regardless of whether he sees himself as one or not. Since taking office, Trump has continued to prove this. Among other things, he’s cut workplace protections for women, endorsed an accused pedophile who preyed on multiple female victims, and led a relentless war on women’s reproductive rights. It honestly would have been more insulting if, after all this, Trump had answered Morgan’s question by saying he is a feminist.
