Checking in

Some post-election thoughts.

Hi friends,

Some of you are new here, thanks to a referral from the wonderful Evelyn Skye and her “Creative. Inspired. Happy!” newsletter. For those who don’t know me that well, I’m an arts and culture journalist, author and newsletterist with an interest in the Romance genre, from films (Pride & Prejudice) to TV (Nobody Wants This) to Meg Ryan Fall and beyond. At the moment, I’m reporting a big feature story on up-and-coming pastry chefs in the Bay Area, where I live. This might be the best freelance assignment ever? And what a nice distraction during a heck of a week.

Ah, the election. I want to talk about that.

On Tuesday morning, I went to my polling station and voted for Kamala Harris. Afterward, I received a text from my dad. He wrote: “Just tried calling to remind you to vote today. Kamala better win.”

“Today’s Election Day?!?” I replied, sending a pic of my “I VOTED!” sticker as well as the pile of Harris/Walz friendship bracelets on my wrist.

Yes, I am a cliche of myself: liberal, Swiftie, latte mom with a Master’s degree who lives in a coastal city.

But no, I wasn’t so sure that Harris would win. My stomach turned that night watching the results live on CNN. The Red Wave was coming and there was no stopping it. I went to a watch party in my neighborhood and met a thirty-something white woman from New Jersey who was there with her French husband. She told me that she’d voted earlier but left the presidential category blank. When I asked her why, she called Harris a “bad candidate” who “wouldn’t be able to handle Putin.” I have to say, after Harris outmatched Trump in their first and only debate, that thought never, ever crossed my mind.

I defended Harris’ strength and professionalism. I told the party guest what I knew for sure: that sexism and racism doubtless played a factor in many Americans’ decision to reject a normal, sane woman with an adorable spouse and instead elect a convicted felon and sexual predator whose brand is Cruelty.

The guest proudly stated that she doesn’t “view the world through the lens of race and gender.”

The next day, I doom-scrolled and saw all kinds of Democrats blaming identity politics for pushing the country further to the Right and alienating voters who are struggling to pay their bills and see Trump as a change for the better. Could the Democratic party have worked harder to reach the working class? To fight misinformation in their physical and digital spaces? Yes, and yes. At the same time, Harris could’ve worked a thousand shifts at McDonald’s, and not shifted opinions of her.

In the end, America chose the school bully over the best person for the job. And that’s (still) a tough pill to swallow. And again, a majority of white women voted for Trump. The feminist writer Jessica Valenti has a good explainer, via Instagram:

My friend Amanda Newman, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, posted in her Instagram Story on Thursday that boys at New Trier Township High School, an elite public school, “were chanting ‘your body my choice’” in the cafeteria that day.

“This is what voting for Trump has wrought, and it’s only the beginning,” she said.

I grew up outside Chicago during the late ’90s and remember a boy in AP Chemistry looking bitterly at the smartest student in our class. He called her a “feminazi” after our teacher announced that she had earned the highest grade on a test. (She later became a doctor.) This boy was mouthing a word coined by Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing radio host whose rants against women, gay people and immigrants captivated and radicalized listeners across the country.

More than 20 years later, Limbaugh’s successors continue his toxic rhetoric online, building a massive and scary following among young men. Trumpism has emboldened them. Their festering bigotry threatens Black and brown women, and LGBTQ+ people, and others thrown under the bus by the choice not to vote for Kamala Harris.

I did an interview with Second Chapter’s Cori Schwabe recently and was asked for advice on building a supportive writing network. I said, “Focus on the people who don't see the world as a zero-sum game but as a place to grow, learn and build community.”

Corny, but true! When you enter the high school cafeteria that is Life, make sure that you sit at the table with people who are kind and will pull out a chair and ask you to join them. My former English and humanities teachers put up “No name-calling” signs and taught challenging books and made an enduring impact. They weren’t famous, they didn’t have syndicated radio shows, and they didn’t need any of that in order to make a difference in their community.

We can gather our courage and fight for what’s right, even when it’s cringe and out of fashion, even when it makes us uncomfortable.

To start, here are some organizations I’m donating to:

The Center for Reproductive Rights

The Human Rights Campaign’s Welcoming Schools program

Beyond Differences

Thank you for listening and please don’t hesitate to reach out and say hello.

Warmly,

Erin