Feminist Tweets to Trump: How to Find Commonality in Diversity

Abstract

The 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and first year of the Trump presidency have defied conventional politics in multiple ways. Among the many shocking deviations from modern political normalcy has been Donald Trump's appeal to a sizeable minority of the American electorate, especially in rural and post-industrial areas, to hitch their hopes for American greatness on stressing racial, class, religious, ethnic, and gender differences among citizens and pitting the interests of immigrants and foreign powers against those of a genuine (white) America. At this moment, it seems crucial to strategize ways to mend America's shredded social fabric. "Feminist Tweets to Trump" offers models for pursuing that goal from an unexpected source: feminist theory and activism. There are few social movements or theoretical perspectives besides feminism that can offer so many robust examples of paradigms, frameworks, and mechanisms for conceptualizing and actualizing connections among groups and for seeking common purpose, both despite and through substantial differences in identities, experiences, and social locations. Feminist connection strategies include: (1) challenging rigid binary thinking about sexuality and gender difference; (2) recognizing how racial divides map onto hierarchies of power and status and undermining both through non-oppositional identity politics, intersectionality, and mestiza consciousness; and (3) finding commonality across nations and geographical regions by exposing shared structural relations and the invisible political histories that link people who otherwise share few life experiences, practices, identities, or cultural values.

Activism, social support, and trump-related distress: Exploring associations with mental health.

“…Activism is one way that individuals have historically responded to threatening sociopolitical changes (Szymanski & Lewis, 2015). Unsurprisingly, Trump’s election to the presidency was followed by a surge of activist demonstrations (Kitch, 2018). Notably, college students represented a substantial proportion of leaders and attendees of postelection activist movements (Reynolds & Mayweather, 2017).…”

Associations between emotional responses to the Trump presidency and activism among underrepresented college students

“…Trump's election to the presidency was followed by a surge of protest demonstrations (Kitch, 2018). College students initiated many of these postelection activist movements (e.g., Reynolds & Mayweather, 2017) which is consistent with the role college students have played historically in advancing social change through activism (Joseph, 2006; Rudy, 1996).…”