Twenty-Something Year Old Journalist

Sigh.

I had a whole other post I was writing and planning on posting. I had thought about writing about election day, but felt I was beating a dead horse by talking about my views on politics and the election. I also thought that Kamala Harris would win. 

But, I made the silly mistake of forgetting that men at their very core hate women and that we are facing a crisis of stupidity. My Dad and I had always made the joke that the movie Idiocracy was actually a prophecy, but now, that joke doesn’t feel so funny anymore. 

I don’t want to come on here and spew even more depressing thoughts and words about the election results, but I already debated tripling my dosage of antidepressants this morning and I can’t even be bothered to add an exclamation mark to my “Happy Wednesday” email intros, it is not a happy Wednesday, so writing will have to do. 

As many, many can probably relate, all I would like to do is curl up in a ball in my bed and have someone wake me up when this nightmare is all over, but, unfortunately, there is still work to be done and still excel tables to be pivoted. 

Of course I’m terrified about the rights of (insert minority group of your choosing) and terrified about Trump’s obsession with authoritarian rulers, but at the moment, I am in utter shock that so many Americans have witnessed and heard Trump and his party’s blatant (insert a form of oppression and hate of your choosing), and have heard — sorry, haven’t heard Trump’s policy outlines, yet still decided to cast their vote for him. 

I’m also shocked that the official and formal deletion of my dating apps was determined by the election results. We all know how Trump was able to win, right? He was able to appeal to the modern day incels, also known as young, white boys, and bank on their obsession with masculinity and being ‘alpha.’

For years we have tirelessly heard about this ‘male loneliness epidemic.’ (Here’s a wild thought, go to therapy?) Democrats have tried their best, but have failed to reach these young boys that feel like the system has let them down and are not paying enough attention to them. 

Let me rephrase. These young, white boys feel they have some sort of entitlement, whether that be an entitlement due to the color of their skin or entitlement due to the fact they have XY chromosomes, or probably both, to a higher status of power and feel that when women or people of color find success, it is unfairly given to them from government ‘handouts,’ affirmative action, or D.E.I. efforts. 

Donald Trump was able to appeal to these boys’ superiority complexes and appeal to their idealized version of masculinity and the idea that men are there to protect and provide.

Let me rephrase again. Donald Trump has allowed and normalized these young boys’ darkest fantasies. A world where men can insult, grope, sexually assault, rape, commit felonies, engage in name calling, “grab them by the pussy,” say the racist, homophobic things they send in group chats aloud, and force women to have their children, all without any retribution. 

He, as well as the likes of Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Tate, have perfectly packaged this idea of masculinity as this idea of deserved male superiority. These white, insecure, men’s constant claims of being the best, the strongest, the toughest, the winner, rings in these young boys’ ears like a siren calling to a ship, luring them into a party that tells them it’s not you, it’s everybody else.

There are a million and one things more I can say about this election and this race. I’m sure you have said them all already. 

Those that voted for Kamala Harris voted for the good of the country; voted with others in mind and a love for America. Those that voted for Donald Trump did so selfishly and will face a rude awakening when they realize Trump doesn’t care about them either. And when they eventually come to this realization, the Democratic Party will welcome them with open(ish) arms and a promise to make the future better. 

This is a dark, discouraging time in America’s history, but the work is not done. We must roll up our sleeves, organize, stay engaged, and mobilize. We must delete our dating apps, stock up on our birth control, throw out that box of condoms, and hope our gay awakening is just around the corner.