The Future of American Women and Trump's Presidency

Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance after her defeat in the U.S. presidential election on Wednesday. She, who showed no effort to hide her disappointment, said she felt like she didn't want to leave her home anymore. Nevertheless, she emphasized that her campaign and her supporters do not end with one person and one election. Her main audience was her supporters, who looked in disbelief at the election results and witnessed the defeat of Hillary Clinton, their chosen candidate. This group believed that Hillary Clinton would be able to break the glass ceilings hindering women's progress and achieve the position of the most powerful person in the United States. A belief that was defeated by very close results. Did Clinton lose because she was a woman? Golnaz Esfandiari, a journalist for Radio Free Europe, in response to whether she considers Clinton's gender a reason for her defeat, says: 'I think being a woman actually made many women vote for her. In the published results, we see that Clinton received more popular votes than Donald Trump. But due to the American electoral system, Donald Trump was declared the winner. This has led some people to protest in the streets and say, 'Donald Trump is not our president.' Another important point is that 94% of Black women voted for Hillary Clinton, as well as 68% of Latina and Hispanic women. Although Clinton received a high number of votes among certain social groups, one cannot ignore Trump's high vote among white American women, who voted for him despite all the insults and discriminatory remarks. Golnaz Esfandiari states: 'That's right. 53% of all white women voted for Donald Trump, and this number is even higher among those without a college degree. 62% of white women without a college degree voted for Donald Trump. The point is that many women interviewed in the American press have shown that Trump's remarks about women are not as important to them compared to his domestic policies. From their perspective, Trump is a successful individual who has accumulated wealth and even raised a successful daughter. Ivanka Trump is a businesswoman and successful. It has even been said that the campaign manager for Donald Trump was a woman. They say they do not see Donald Trump as anti-woman, and some do not accept certain accusations against him. They say perhaps the women who claim Trump assaulted them are lying. These reactions come at a time when many who voted for Trump viewed him as a non-establishment candidate and anti-establishment candidate in America, a candidate who could dismantle the prevailing situation and improve their lives. Men vote for Republicans, women for Democrats. Keyvan Hosseini, a journalist for Radio Farda, who has been following the U.S. election campaigns for months, looks at the issue of Hillary Clinton's defeat from another perspective and believes that despite lower participation in this election compared to the previous one, the percentage of men who voted for Hillary Clinton is a matter that can answer some questions about the reasons for the Democratic candidate's defeat. Mr. Hosseini states: 'There are two points here. One is that the competition was very close. A small number of votes in favor of Clinton could have easily won this election. Compared to the two elections that Obama won, there were very few who did not vote for Clinton, and she lost this election. Let's see why that small group did not vote for her. Understanding the mindset of those who did not vote for her and why they did not vote for her is not easy, and one cannot say with certainty. However, what can be said with certainty is that if we look at the statistics of voters and break it down by gender, we realize that in this election, men significantly voted less for the Democratic candidate. The point is that men generally vote more for Republicans in the United States, while women vote more for the Democratic Party. This trend has occurred in U.S. elections for nearly thirty years. However, in this specific election, the percentage of men who voted for the Democratic Party was lower than ever. That is, compared to the 2012 election when Obama won, three percent more men voted for him than in this election. In 2008, nearly eight percent more men voted for him. In 2004, when the Democrats lost with John Kerry, they still received more votes from men compared to Clinton. Al Gore also. In 1996, during Bill Clinton's campaign, men voted more for the Democratic Party. In 1988, which was actually an election where the Democratic Party narrowly lost, Michael Dukakis only managed to win in six states across America. Yet again, the percentage of men's votes in that election was higher than what Clinton received in 2016. Of course, here we are only talking about the ratio of votes, not the number of votes. That is, suppose in each election only 100 men participated, the number of men who voted for the Democrats among these 100 was lower compared to the votes for Democrats in several other elections. The election of Trump as President of the United States worries a group of American women when they remember his campaign promises. Although American women have the right to abortion, Trump has promised to form a Supreme Court to change this right. Some American women believe that changing abortion laws could set them back years and destroy their efforts for gender equality. I ask Fatemeh Aman, a journalist living in America, how concerned she is about the rollback of women's laws. Fatemeh Aman responds: 'American women achieved a lot during Obama's presidency, and now there is a danger that with Trump's presidency, these achievements may be threatened or lost. In this regard, two scenarios can be considered. The reality is that Trump has no political experience and does not consider himself a politician. Throughout his entire campaign, he addressed everything in general and never presented any solutions with details and plans. In fact, this approach made him more popular. This inexperience could lead him to rely on his more experienced advisors, who are somewhat known and believe that what we consider women's rights achievements are not progress at all and should be eliminated as soon as possible. In this case, Mr. Trump will create an earthquake among his supporters. Another scenario is that Mr. Trump has shown that he is not ideologically driven, so he may broaden his circle of close advisors to give more space to those from rival groups. In that case, he may especially engage more with women's rights. Women, by launching campaigns for a million-women marches in various states of America, plan to express their protest against his anti-women policies on January 21, one day after Donald Trump's official entry into the White House. Opponents of Trump believe that some of his campaign promises will lead to the violation of women's rights. This group refers to his promise to delegate decision-making about abortion to the states, eliminate universal healthcare, which could specifically impact the lives of low-income women, and the issue of deporting immigrants, which again women will be major victims of. Under these circumstances, what conditions will American women face? Keyvan Hosseini responds: 'In America, there is a system that they are very proud of and call it check and balance. This means that the three branches control each other. This means that many of the things Mr. Trump has promised to do must pass through the filter of Congress. This Congress, which has a Republican majority, may prevent some of Mr. Trump's plans, and radical and bizarre programs may not happen. However, regarding issues like immigration, there were critics of Mr. Obama's immigration program in Congress, and it is likely they will cooperate with Trump. Regarding abortion, which was a significant issue that women discussed a lot in this election, it will go to the Supreme Court. The impactful point of this election on the Supreme Court is the selection of its ninth judge by Mr. Trump. Currently, in that court, which has very great power, there are eight active judges, four of whom lean towards the liberals and four are critics of abortion and are considered conservative judges. The judge that Trump will nominate and Congress will also vote for will certainly be conservative. Thus, the majority of this court will become conservative. Then they can vote and change the law. The current law is that abortion is a matter of personal issues for women, and each woman can decide for herself. Trump has promised that this law will be repealed and decision-making regarding how to deal with the issue of abortion will be delegated to the states, which could have negative results for women in some states and may impose restrictions on abortion. Michelle Obama and the 2020 Election. Although part of American society has not yet come out of the shock of Donald Trump's election and protests against his election process continue in some areas of America, efforts for the next election have begun, including a campaign on social media asking Michelle Obama, the wife of Barack Obama, to run in the next election. It seems that Michelle Obama's speeches during Hillary's campaign and in support of her attracted a lot of attention. However, can it be predicted that Michelle Obama will enter the competition in the next round? Golnaz Esfandiari responds: 'It all depends on Michelle Obama's decision. I don't know if she has made such a decision or not. But she was very successful in this round of campaigning. She is someone who is said to have not wanted to enter politics when Obama became president, but in these last months, we see she has become politically very active and has said she really enjoys this work. Many believe she has leadership qualities. However, I think Clinton's progress to this point, even if she has lost, has paved the way for another woman to participate, women like Michelle Obama or Elizabeth Warren. As a woman, I hope that women in America will run again, and I hope to see a female president in America. Although predictions for the next presidential term have begun, American women have not given up. They are planning to express their protest against his anti-women policies by launching campaigns for a million-women marches in various states of America on January 21, one day after Donald Trump's official entry into the White House.