It might feel devastating and overwhelming. But it’s a new reality we need to contend with.
As painful as an overwhelming Trump victory in the US presidential race is for many women, especially in a race of two sides that so fundamentally differed in platforms around women’s choices and opportunities, this new reality requires vigilance and collective action.
I received numerous messages on Wednesday night, sharing rage and sadness and hopelessness, along with questions regarding what this means for women in Australia.
The Trump reality is not good for women in Australia, with potential impacts on the economy, cost of living, climate action, further unpredictability across global conflicts, as well as lowering the bar even further on common decency and respect for women.
But it’s a reality that comes with an opportunity. To meet the despair with action. To unite together to confront where and how Trumpian tactics – especially concerning women’s rights and opportunities – filter into Australian politics, as well as to set up walls of vigilance to protect what’s already been won, and to keep pushing forward on achieving more.
Make no mistake, this will be different to 2016. There are big businesses and employers that will take this as an opportunity to potentially pull back on and even end diversity and equity efforts. Businesses that see this 2024 result as the final mandate needed to push back and reject demands of better and more decent leadership, as well as programs and initiatives that aim to include and protect the wellbeing of team members.
Stay vigilant and react to it in whatever way you are comfortable with. Whether that’s with your purchasing power, with your superannuation, even with where you choose to give your attention online.
Your attention is a powerful currency, so choose how you spend and distribute it.
There will be media outlets that will tap into the Trump surge to further progress conservative viewpoints and big business agenda. Call it out, reject it, choose what you share and where your attention goes.
There will be leaders and wannabe leaders in businesses and institutions who see the Trump comeback as well as the behaviour of his supporters like Elon Musk, as the permission they’ve been seeking to voice aloud the racist and sexist rhetoric they’ve been thinking about. Watch for this, especially where it’s attacking those with less access to power and influence. Support and get behind those who are or might be experiencing it.
And of course, with a federal election due by next May, there will be sitting members of parliament who’ll feel emboldened to take on new issues they have no business dealing with, such as abortion access and policies supporting women’s health or gender pay gap policies or domestic and family violence funding or anything they deem to be “woke” and against the 1950s ideal they once lived or imagined. There will be those seeking to tap into misinformation and outright lies to get their points across, rejecting and just talking over attempts at questions.
Stay across the comments and policy areas being pushed by those seeking reelection as well as those to get elected for the first time. Not just in federal politics but across all areas that affect you and the things you value.
Stay informed on how taxpayer dollars are being spent, and the lobbying power behind key national agendas. Outside of politics, stay alert to where new types are and stay ahead of anything that might be creeping into your employer or wider industry.
Even better, consider how you can get involved in local, state or federal politics or any kind of community or institutional representative leadership positions.
A sense of hopelessness following a result like this is understandable, but hopelessness simply breeds more of the same. It won’t change the outcome, nor will it help to prevent attacks on everything put on the table as ‘fair game’.
Support each other. Share ideas. Reach out as an ally to those who are further marginalised by this result. Demonstrate kindness, even with those you don’t agree with, while staying true to your values. Consider what can be done collectively, no matter how small, it all counts for something.
All of this takes yet more work that we don’t want or need – and it’s not up to women, it’s for anyone concerned about gender equity and climate action women’s economic opportunity and safety, and improving leadership standards. But surely it’s better than hopelessness or complacency? And, it may just be possible that the result is not only protecting gains made in Australia on some of these issues but strengthening and improving them.