The 2016 election crushed the girls. Now women, they’re revenge voting.
October 7, 2024 3:32 PM Subscribe
The 2016 election crushed the girls. Now women, they’re revenge voting.
2016: They existed in a girls-can-do-anything world. Then Donald Trump won the White House.
The hatred seen on that 2016 campaign trail had worked. The kind of bullying that would get a kid at their middle school suspended got Trump the Oval Office. The promises that they could be anything, do anything, dream anything felt suspended.
They believed the rancor and division of 2016 would calm after the election, that the United States would settle down and live by the same rules that applied to students of Washington Irving Middle School in Springfield, Va.The Washington Post's Petula Dvorak checks in with young women she watched the 2016 election with, and checked up on in 2020.
Instead, they had a tumultuous four years in high school marred by a global pandemic and tattered by a fractured nation.
2016: They existed in a girls-can-do-anything world. Then Donald Trump won the White House.
In four hours, their girls had learned about centuries of sexism. Of brick walls, glass ceilings, of being the smartest person in the room, the most qualified person for the job and still being rejected.2020: These girls were crushed when Hillary lost in 2016. Four years later, they’ve created their own strong female future.
They had to wake up for school the next day. And when they did, everything in their world had changed.
Though they may not have understood where their anger was coming from, none of the girls was going to tolerate having their dreams, their rules for behavior, the flag they pledged their allegiance to at assemblies hijacked.
Each one, as I checked back in with them in the days before this election, has grown fiercer, more emboldened, more determined to make a difference.
I'll never forget election night 2016, my ex and I and our daughters (7 and 4) with the Hillary signs and high spirits, how it ended up with us explaining to them in tears what happened.
posted by gottabefunky at 4:45 PM on October 7 [19 favorites]
posted by gottabefunky at 4:45 PM on October 7 [19 favorites]
Paywalled, any archive links?
posted by bannana at 4:52 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
posted by bannana at 4:52 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
🙏 please please please 🙏
posted by tiny frying pan at 4:53 PM on October 7 [9 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 4:53 PM on October 7 [9 favorites]
They should all be gift links.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:01 PM on October 7 [2 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 5:01 PM on October 7 [2 favorites]
I'm a high school teacher, and the day after the 2016 election was parent-teacher conferences, all of us teachers meeting the parents and kids in the gym. There was grief in that room. Girls -- and their moms -- were traumatized. It was painful.
And now those girls -- my students -- have fewer rights than their mothers did at their age.
posted by kikaider01 at 5:22 PM on October 7 [56 favorites]
And now those girls -- my students -- have fewer rights than their mothers did at their age.
posted by kikaider01 at 5:22 PM on October 7 [56 favorites]
They should all be gift links.
They are indeed, BUT, WaPo is now making you sign in to read your free article. #bullshit.
posted by ApathyGirl at 5:24 PM on October 7 [10 favorites]
They are indeed, BUT, WaPo is now making you sign in to read your free article. #bullshit.
posted by ApathyGirl at 5:24 PM on October 7 [10 favorites]
This is one of the many groups that I am pretty sure are under represented in the polls and part of my secret reserve of optimism. Go forth and kick ass!
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:18 PM on October 7 [42 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:18 PM on October 7 [42 favorites]
My FPP from a million years ago, also known as "July": The under-appreciated, under-reported grassroots movement -
We cannot be complacent, we cannot take ANYTHING for granted - but there is reason for hope. At least 400,000 reasons.
posted by kristi at 6:44 PM on October 7 [30 favorites]
"...on every call, in every meeting, in every action, women constitute 90% of the grassroots volunteer movement. If grassroots groups are the secret weapon of democracy, women are the not-so-secret weapon of grassroots groups." Why I remain hopeful about 2024.The Harris-Walz campaign got over 170,000 volunteers in the first week, and they're up to 400,000 (or more) by now. That's, what, 8,000 per state? And that's probably not counting the folks who are volunteering on other campaigns, whether it's Senate or House races, state races, or ballot measures.
We cannot be complacent, we cannot take ANYTHING for granted - but there is reason for hope. At least 400,000 reasons.
posted by kristi at 6:44 PM on October 7 [30 favorites]
2016 wayback
2020 way back
2024 article *
*not way back link, but currently working if you visit through the authors WaPo profile. They were gift links but WaPo still requires log in to view. Maybe it was just clumsiness on my phone, but I think one of your links might not lead to the correct article. Hopefully the above do with all 3 in the series.
posted by rubatan at 6:49 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
2020 way back
2024 article *
*not way back link, but currently working if you visit through the authors WaPo profile. They were gift links but WaPo still requires log in to view. Maybe it was just clumsiness on my phone, but I think one of your links might not lead to the correct article. Hopefully the above do with all 3 in the series.
posted by rubatan at 6:49 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
Thanks, rubatan!
posted by kirkaracha at 6:55 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 6:55 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
A month or so ago at work I heard a few early-20s women talking politics. This is their conversation nearly verbatim. Their information wasn't quite right but they had the right spirit:
"Well, Camilla will bring back Wade versus Roy or whatever. If we're going to have the government in charge of our bodies, I think it should be a woman deciding."
"Yeah, I've never voted before but I think I will this year."
It continued in that vein, the first woman being enthusiastic and always kind of wrong, the second woman starting to get on board with the first woman's excitement. Hopefully they'll both make it to the polls.
posted by Emmy Rae at 6:56 PM on October 7 [38 favorites]
"Well, Camilla will bring back Wade versus Roy or whatever. If we're going to have the government in charge of our bodies, I think it should be a woman deciding."
"Yeah, I've never voted before but I think I will this year."
It continued in that vein, the first woman being enthusiastic and always kind of wrong, the second woman starting to get on board with the first woman's excitement. Hopefully they'll both make it to the polls.
posted by Emmy Rae at 6:56 PM on October 7 [38 favorites]
"Well, Camilla will bring back Wade versus Roy or whatever. If we're going to have the government in charge of our bodies, I think it should be a woman deciding."
I mean close enough I'll TAKE it
posted by taquito sunrise at 7:24 PM on October 7 [40 favorites]
I mean close enough I'll TAKE it
posted by taquito sunrise at 7:24 PM on October 7 [40 favorites]
“She a little confused, but she got the spirit.”
posted by leotrotsky at 8:30 PM on October 7 [21 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 8:30 PM on October 7 [21 favorites]
well i've had a shit day, but i was interested in what this was about.
THERE IS NO WAY TO READ IT. i did sign in. all that is there are a few short paragraphs, and then ads, and then it goes to comments. is that all? is that it? that doesn't make sense. and it's infuriating.
but without reading any more that the headline, my immediate reaction is, why is this being called "revenge voting"?
this is, in every sense, simply, VOTING.
posted by lapolla at 10:49 PM on October 7 [14 favorites]
THERE IS NO WAY TO READ IT. i did sign in. all that is there are a few short paragraphs, and then ads, and then it goes to comments. is that all? is that it? that doesn't make sense. and it's infuriating.
but without reading any more that the headline, my immediate reaction is, why is this being called "revenge voting"?
this is, in every sense, simply, VOTING.
posted by lapolla at 10:49 PM on October 7 [14 favorites]
Here’s a archive.ph link for the article.
posted by FallibleHuman at 11:04 PM on October 7 [2 favorites]
posted by FallibleHuman at 11:04 PM on October 7 [2 favorites]
I can't take mainstream national media seriously when they publish headlines like this.
posted by limeonaire at 11:08 PM on October 7 [3 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 11:08 PM on October 7 [3 favorites]
but without reading any more that the headline, my immediate reaction is, why is this being called "revenge voting"? this is, in every sense, simply, VOTING.
Yeah, it is simply voting, so if someone wants to delve into the "why" of why someone is voting, it doesn't detract from the fact that they're still voting so hey.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:43 AM on October 8 [9 favorites]
Yeah, it is simply voting, so if someone wants to delve into the "why" of why someone is voting, it doesn't detract from the fact that they're still voting so hey.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:43 AM on October 8 [9 favorites]
Because women are vengeful and irrational, I assume. Fucking demeaning. As if voting in your best interest is petty.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:18 AM on October 8 [18 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:18 AM on October 8 [18 favorites]
Honestly the 2016 election crushed anyone with a soul. Watching the returns come in flashed me back to 9/11 and the feeling that this couldn't be happening but it was, and that I don't really like humans that much if this is what they are capable of.
Building a better world shouldn't have to be this hard. There's more than enough to go around. But you let a monkey-brained human accumulate a billion dollars or own an assault rifle and it's really hard to undo the effects of that.
posted by rikschell at 5:37 AM on October 8 [25 favorites]
Building a better world shouldn't have to be this hard. There's more than enough to go around. But you let a monkey-brained human accumulate a billion dollars or own an assault rifle and it's really hard to undo the effects of that.
posted by rikschell at 5:37 AM on October 8 [25 favorites]
all that is there are a few short paragraphs, and then ads, and then it goes to comments. is that all? is that it?
That's all I get too without Bypass Paywalls Clean active (available for Firefox and Chromium-based browsers). Except for the ads part, because I also run uBlock Origin like a civilized human being.
Note that BPC's developer has moved it to a new home recently after the old one got heavily bombarded by DMCA takedown notices, so if you've already got BPC installed and WaPo is still doing the open only partway thing, it's probably just that your browser no longer knows where to find new versions to auto-update to.
posted by flabdablet at 5:46 AM on October 8 [5 favorites]
That's all I get too without Bypass Paywalls Clean active (available for Firefox and Chromium-based browsers). Except for the ads part, because I also run uBlock Origin like a civilized human being.
Note that BPC's developer has moved it to a new home recently after the old one got heavily bombarded by DMCA takedown notices, so if you've already got BPC installed and WaPo is still doing the open only partway thing, it's probably just that your browser no longer knows where to find new versions to auto-update to.
posted by flabdablet at 5:46 AM on October 8 [5 favorites]
My teenage niece, 14 years old and queer and weird in the Deep South, is VERY invested in this election, despite not being voting age. She is vocal about seeing her rights being stripped away as a female.*
*her Trump voting father is indifferent to these rights being taken away
posted by Kitteh at 6:08 AM on October 8 [15 favorites]
*her Trump voting father is indifferent to these rights being taken away
posted by Kitteh at 6:08 AM on October 8 [15 favorites]
There’s definitely an enthusiasm gap. That’s not to say that the hardcore MAGA types are any less determined and enthusiastic to see the world burn. But, as some dude on the news said, Trump’s not getting any new customers. I think Biden’s election was less about Biden himself and more about weariness of GOP cruelty and incompetence. Kamala, on the other hand, has enthusiasm, together with women’s awareness that the GOP is after them harder than ever. God send it will be enough.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:08 AM on October 8 [5 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 7:08 AM on October 8 [5 favorites]
tiny frying pan: I have definitely read about young men’s rightward voting swing as revenge for not being the center of the universe anymore. I don’t know that it was so prominently featured in a headline, though.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:10 AM on October 8
posted by Countess Elena at 7:10 AM on October 8
why is this being called "revenge voting"?
this is, in every sense, simply, VOTING.
posted by lapolla at 10:
Correspondents, in their dwindling numbers, are professionals insulated from their subjects. They will continue to communicate politics as if people are shopping. Their Editors are worse, and the Publishers are awful.
This is part of why global warming, and existential threat, is reported like a consumer choice, and not a basic survival concern.
Voting, though, is about survival.
posted by eustatic at 7:30 AM on October 8 [15 favorites]
this is, in every sense, simply, VOTING.
posted by lapolla at 10:
Correspondents, in their dwindling numbers, are professionals insulated from their subjects. They will continue to communicate politics as if people are shopping. Their Editors are worse, and the Publishers are awful.
This is part of why global warming, and existential threat, is reported like a consumer choice, and not a basic survival concern.
Voting, though, is about survival.
posted by eustatic at 7:30 AM on October 8 [15 favorites]
This isn't revenge voting. This is divine wrath, and the enemies of these young people should prostrate themselves upon the earth and pray for mercy.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:27 AM on October 8 [15 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:27 AM on October 8 [15 favorites]
There’s definitely an enthusiasm gap.
Yeah...I don't feel enthusiasm either, really. I just feel dread and want the election to be over. I'm going to vote, but I don't have it in me to try to drum up enthusiasm in myself or anyone else. It goes without saying, perhaps, that I'm voting for her, not him. That's about it. So much about the Biden administration has been disappointing and an exercise in compromise, and this past year sapped any remaining enthusiasm I might have had. He's an LBJ figure to me, and I just look forward to better. I don't need convincing to do the right thing; I'm just not carrying any more water than that. There's a point at which people go quiet about politics because they don't have more to say, and that's the point I've reached. I was so vocal for so long, but I'm burned out.
If anything, I think that's part of what's in this article, too. Two of the girls they followed up with are studying abroad to get experiences that aren't this.
McCullough is working on her thesis while studying in Rwanda and declined to weigh in, telling her friends she’s a little tired of politics.
Dent is in South Africa right now, also not unhappy to be away during another Trump campaign.
I think the article's headline doesn't even necessarily reflect the contents, which are thin at best, but also reflect—not so much desire for revenge, but more a fundamental disappointment many of us, especially younger people, have with the current choices.
posted by limeonaire at 9:45 AM on October 8 [7 favorites]
Yeah...I don't feel enthusiasm either, really. I just feel dread and want the election to be over. I'm going to vote, but I don't have it in me to try to drum up enthusiasm in myself or anyone else. It goes without saying, perhaps, that I'm voting for her, not him. That's about it. So much about the Biden administration has been disappointing and an exercise in compromise, and this past year sapped any remaining enthusiasm I might have had. He's an LBJ figure to me, and I just look forward to better. I don't need convincing to do the right thing; I'm just not carrying any more water than that. There's a point at which people go quiet about politics because they don't have more to say, and that's the point I've reached. I was so vocal for so long, but I'm burned out.
If anything, I think that's part of what's in this article, too. Two of the girls they followed up with are studying abroad to get experiences that aren't this.
McCullough is working on her thesis while studying in Rwanda and declined to weigh in, telling her friends she’s a little tired of politics.
Dent is in South Africa right now, also not unhappy to be away during another Trump campaign.
I think the article's headline doesn't even necessarily reflect the contents, which are thin at best, but also reflect—not so much desire for revenge, but more a fundamental disappointment many of us, especially younger people, have with the current choices.
posted by limeonaire at 9:45 AM on October 8 [7 favorites]
Metafilter: enthusiastic, and always slightly wrong
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:17 AM on October 8 [5 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:17 AM on October 8 [5 favorites]
limeonaire: I meant that Kamala voters seem to have more excitement for voting than Trump voters do. Again, they have a lot of excitement, but it’s largely for murdering or deporting people rather than voting. In any case, I completely understand that you, or anyone, wouldn’t be enthusiastic under the circumstances.
posted by Countess Elena at 12:51 PM on October 8 [3 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 12:51 PM on October 8 [3 favorites]
I don’t see a lot of excitement for Kamala around the more progressive young people I know what with the whole handwaving war crimes.
posted by iamck at 1:08 PM on October 8
posted by iamck at 1:08 PM on October 8
Harris smiles, seems to give a shit about important things, seems to be a human who wants to help...
Not just hate against "the others".
I hope that Americans can see the choice they are faced with.
Going to be a long month...
posted by Windopaene at 2:58 PM on October 8 [7 favorites]
Not just hate against "the others".
I hope that Americans can see the choice they are faced with.
Going to be a long month...
posted by Windopaene at 2:58 PM on October 8 [7 favorites]
enthusiastic, and always slightly wrong
I have approximate knowledge of many things...
posted by kaibutsu at 6:00 PM on October 8 [1 favorite]
I have approximate knowledge of many things...
posted by kaibutsu at 6:00 PM on October 8 [1 favorite]
revenge voting I'd say it's a valid distinction if we're talking about people who otherwise would not be voting. People who simply trusted that things would more or less keep on being kind of ok (from their POV) and that they could afford not to give a shit suddenly waking up in a world where things weren't going to keep on being kind of OK and that they were going to pay a steep price for not giving a shit.
If they're voting not so much because they just think political participation is a good idea but specificially to keep Trump from fucking up their lives more/again then yeah, I think revenge voting is a not entirely horrible way to describe it.
People need motivation to do things, even something as relatively straightforward as voting. For most of us here I think I'd be accurate if I said our motivation for voting was a belief that participating in the political process is the duty of a citizen and the only way to actually get shit done.
But we're the minority. Most people are only going to vote if there's a different motive. And for all that i personally am baffled by the concept of revenge it is clearly a strong factor in many people's thinking and behavior. If that's what it takes, I'm glad for their presence and hopefully some of the new voters will keep coming back to vote in the future when the vengence motive is gone.
posted by sotonohito at 6:25 AM on October 9
If they're voting not so much because they just think political participation is a good idea but specificially to keep Trump from fucking up their lives more/again then yeah, I think revenge voting is a not entirely horrible way to describe it.
People need motivation to do things, even something as relatively straightforward as voting. For most of us here I think I'd be accurate if I said our motivation for voting was a belief that participating in the political process is the duty of a citizen and the only way to actually get shit done.
But we're the minority. Most people are only going to vote if there's a different motive. And for all that i personally am baffled by the concept of revenge it is clearly a strong factor in many people's thinking and behavior. If that's what it takes, I'm glad for their presence and hopefully some of the new voters will keep coming back to vote in the future when the vengence motive is gone.
posted by sotonohito at 6:25 AM on October 9
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posted by kirkaracha at 3:34 PM on October 7 [13 favorites]