We Need More Women in Office-Even if They're Terrible

"A year after the most openly misogynist presidential candidate in modern U.S. history defeated, for the second time, an ultracompetent woman and brought a politics of unabashed male dominance to the White House and country writ large, it can feel like something of a quaint throwback to remark on why it's important to have women in positions of power."

"The man sitting behind the Resolute Desk recently snapped "Quiet! Quiet, piggy" at a female reporter after she asked him about his refusal to release the Epstein Files, simply the latest in his career-long impulse to hurl sexist insults at women who challenge or question him."

"His secretary of defense has tweeted a video of his own pastor arguing that women shouldn't have the right to vote. His White House intervened on behalf of accused rapist and sex trafficker (and self-identified misogynist) Andrew Tate and his brother after the two flew back to the U.S., fleeing human trafficking and rape allegations in Romania (Tate faces 21 similar criminal charges in the U.K.);"

A year after a misogynist presidential candidate defeated a highly competent woman and brought unabashed male dominance to national politics, male-dominant dynamics persist across government. The president publicly hurled sexist insults at a female reporter and the defense secretary amplified anti-vote rhetoric from his pastor. The White House intervened on behalf of accused sex traffickers, and an intervening official faced sexual-harassment allegations. Many top-ranking military women were pushed from their posts. The governing coalition includes men resentful of women's rising power and women who sometimes replicate that misogyny, revealing that simply electing women does not guarantee feminist governance.

Read at Slate Magazine