Randi Kreiss

As 2016 turns, a better view for women?

Posted

"The Oct 9 debate left me feeling as if I needed a shower. What a low point in our political life. Eventually, the mud-slinging covers us all with debris. As an American citizen, I feel embarrassed and angry all over again by the sexist, transgressive behavior of Bill Clinton and sickened by the depraved language and behavior of Donald Trump. Hillary is caught in the crossfire of two men who don’t come close to matching her intelligence, competence and leadership skills. She tried to go high but this year’s street fight has brought us all low."

I posted that on Facebook on Oct. 10 because the national scene looked so grim, and it gets worse — ground fire and assaults from the Trump camp keep changing the landscape. As if his “Access Hollywood” rant on women was just a warmup act, the Republican candidate has exploded with new incendiary accusations and threats. He insulted the women who came forward with stories of alleged assaults, condemned the newspapers that reported their stories and (hard to believe I’m writing this) basically threatened to bring down the Republic if Hillary Clinton is elected president.

The strangely thrilling piece of this is feeling as if we are having a near-miss and coming out OK. We are witnesses to a momentous historic event: when the democratic process itself came under siege and survived because of a free press and people willing to tell their stories. I say “survived” because I believe sanity and procedure will prevail, and Trump will go back to his wretched business-as-usual life. Any other scenario is unthinkable. The election will take place. Clinton will win. And the Republican Party will reinvent itself after a shameful interlude.

Most of us don’t think about the treasured tenets of our democracy on a daily basis. But the rise of Trump, and his naked appeal to the bigots and sexists among us, offer an opportunity to appreciate what we have. Fingers crossed and all that, if the election proceeds as expected, we will have a new president and a renewed assurance that free elections cannot be stopped by a demagogue fueled by hate and supported by miscreants. We will have been tested, and we will know that the system works, even when forcefully challenged.

There is another positive piece to the rocky horror Trump show. Women are stepping out of the shadows, encouraged by leaders like Michelle Obama. Women who still have searing memories of unsolicited sexual encounters with Trump are feeling brave enough to tell their stories.

Trump has unintentionally let loose forces dangerous to his campaign: truth and light. Women are bearing witness to his predatory assaults, and men are stepping up to confirm and condemn the candidates’ past bad behavior.

For decades, women have been taught, encouraged and cajoled into keeping quiet about uninvited sexual attention. The mixed message was always there in my generation: If men are reaching out, you must be encouraging them. If they do something inappropriate, best not to make a fuss.

After the “Access Hollywood” tape aired, I remembered several occasions over the years when men I did not know just reached out and touched me in offensive ways. They felt entitled, or safe enough, anyway, to do it. My reaction? I never said anything to anybody.

I never much thought about it until last week, when I saw the debate. I watched Clinton still suffering the fallout from her husband’s sexual exploitation of women, and I watched Trump trying to turn attention away from the fact of his sick predatory attacks.

And then I saw and heard Michelle Obama’s speech, and I knew she was speaking for Hillary and for me and for all women. Her strength and integrity offer support to women who want to stand up for themselves. No such thing anymore as boys will be boys. Going forward, I believe women will call out offensive behavior if and when it occurs. We will feel freer to defend ourselves.

Donald Trump is bent on promoting the worst in us. But with men and women as partners going forward, we can find the best in one another. If this evolution comes to pass, and it must, then there will have been a silver lining to the Trump firestorm.

Copyright © 2016 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.