On November 5th, amidst the tension of an election possibly sending the first female president into office and the key topic of reproductive rights among women, there were strong reactions over the loss of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Nick Fuentes, a political commentator with close ties to president-elect Donald Trump, went on live stream to release his fiery rant on women’s rights shortly after Trump’s victory. During the live stream Fuentes would comment, “your body, my choice” to mock the pro-choice phrase of “my body, my choice,” sparking outrage among thousands online. On November 9th, Fuentes discovered his home address posted online to millions.
One day after the doxxing, Marla Rose, a feminist within Fuentes’ town, decided to confront him and filmed the confrontation. In a now deleted Facebook video, Fuentes sprays Rose with what is believed to be pepper spray and pushes her down onto the sidewalk. Rose would call the police shortly after. NBC news reports Illinois police have confirmed that they received an incident involving the two. Many others, outraged by Fuentes’ actions, went online to mock him such as one post on X saying, “Your house, my choice” with an attached photo of Fuentes’ home.
In an interview with VICE, Rose comments on her encounter, stating, “it was obvious he’s very scared, probably extremely paranoid.” Fuentes has faced unwanted backlash for his comment. But this backlash was only a result of the fight against rising misogyny, not only post election, but also in recent years.
In 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, meaning the right to an abortion was no longer protected under the constitution. Since the decision was made by the Justices, three of which were appointed by Trump during his first term, 13 states have banned abortions completely. With the right of bodily autonomy being revoked, many women turned to candidate Harris who vowed to make abortions a federally protected right once more. After Kamala’s loss, many men online took to parroting Fuentes’ misogynistic statement in celebration. According to a report by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, the usage of “your body, my choice” rocketed up by 5,150 percent between November 5th to November 9th. The misogynistic phrase “get back in the kitchen” which is derived from the traditional expectation of women to be housewives, was also found to have increased by 4,600 percent on X according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Since 2022, the belief that feminism is threatening men has been discovered to be widespread. In a survey conducted by the Ipsos research company in partnership with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, it was found that 28% of American men found feminism harmful and 45% found traditional masculinity being threatened. These viewpoints have also been reflected online. In the same survey, two out of five American women reported experiencing online abuse and witnessing sexist comments from 2020 to 2022.
The internet has allowed for sexist ideas to influence growing groups online such as one that is referred to as the “manosphere,” successfully promoting extreme anti-feminist ideas. Trump’s victory could even be attributed to the “manosphere” as he made multiple appearances with popular manosphere influencers such as Adin Ross, Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and more. With these appearances he was able to reach a demographic of young men who would align with his less than supportive policies on women’s rights. This was reflected in his voter demographics with the majority of young male voters supporting Trump.
Trump himself also has a history of anti-feminism. In 2019 during an interview with Fox & Friends discussing his recently fired ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, he would state that “she’s a woman – we have to be nice” alongside with exclusively referring to her as “the woman” Currently, Trump also faces at least 26 women accusing him of sexual misconduct spanning back to the 1970s. Which raises questions on whether women will be safe for the next four years.
Trump’s victory and the reactions following it, such as the comments made by Fuentes, reflect that American society may not sufficiently meet women’s needs. That reality will only continue to show with the continuing rise of misogyny along with the revoking of rights such as abortion.
