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In Israel, women outraged at the government’s new repressive proposals are taking a prominent role in the mass protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial “reform” push. “Demonstrations against the government’s judicial overhaul entered their 33rd week on Saturday evening as protests continued to roil the military, activists took aim at the coalition’s transportation restrictions, and top scientists warned of severe damage to Israel’s international academic standing,” The Times of Israel reported. Organizers said the main protest at Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street would “only be addressed by female speakers, citing several recent incidents of alleged ultra-Orthodox discrimination against female bus and plane passengers that have made national headlines.”
What begins as repression against women can trigger a full-blown revolt against a repressive regime. Almost a year ago in Iran, mass demonstrations erupted over the death of a young woman who was detained by the regime’s “morality police.” As the New York Times reported: “Iran was convulsed in demonstrations and riots following the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the country’s morality police after officers accused her of wearing her state-mandated religious veil too loosely. Hundreds were killed in the ensuing government crackdown, including at least 44 minors, while around 20,000 Iranians were arrested, the United Nations calculated.” Iran is again cracking down in anticipation of renewed demonstrations.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the political might of women has accelerated, with a Democratic bent, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. The result might be a redrawn political map and new setbacks for the forced-birth MAGA movement.
As Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg explained, “We saw a huge spike in women registering to vote after Dobbs, and we saw Democrats outperform our 2020 numbers by 7 points in 5 House special elections and even more in Kansas. There was an immediate, positive spike in Dem performance for us after Dobbs.” The impact of female voters and reproductive rights more generally is now widely seen as asubstantial factor in Democrats’ better-than-expected midterm results.
With the rise in the share of women with college degrees(who now outnumber men with degrees), a critical demographic for Democrats, Republicans have begun to face a fierce backlash in unexpected places. In Arizona, for example, pro-choice groups are looking to repeat successes in Ohio and Kansas. Their efforts are underway to secure signatures for a ballot initiative in the November 2024 election that would secure abortion rights in the state constitution. The Post reported recently: “If the initiative makes it on Arizona’s ballot, it could have implications for the reelection of President Biden. ... About 62 percent of Arizona residents surveyed have said abortion should be legal in most or all cases, compared with 64 percent nationally.” Moreover, “The initiative could help turn out independent voters, who make up about a third of the state’s electorate and who, along with some moderate Republicans, helped abortion rights candidates sweep key statewide offices in recent years.”
None of this should be surprising. Historically, women have frequently been at the forefront of movements aimed to topple authoritarian regimes. Given the toxic masculinity of many dictators and their drive to subjugate women, women have consistently rebelled against hyper-misogyny and then used their moral standing as wives and mothers to rally a broader coalition of repressed people.
Mothers in the Soviet Union rallied the nation against the Soviets’ war in Afghanistan, helping to bring the communist regime to its knees. The Ladies in White highlighted human rights abuses in Cuba. Women led the fight to pass the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And women were at the forefront of the resistance after now four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump’s 2016 election. Just as they did in the wake of that election, women in the post-Dobbsworld are helping energize anti-MAGA forces.
Women’s inherent capacity for networking, organizing and manipulating around power structures makes them ideal foot soldiers in the battle for democracy. Hillary Clinton had it right when she said, “Women’s rights are human rights.” And conversely, women are essential to securing democracy, human rights and the rule of law for all repressed people.
Republicans have failed to recognize that once women are galvanized — by war, by repression and by threats to their health care and autonomy — they become a potent force against regimes and movements seeking to diminish their power and confine the scope of women’s lives. Women’s ability to turn political issues into moral and personal crusades can supercharge progressive movements and parties. Having run roughshod over women’s rights, the MAGA Republican Party now might pay the price. That would be a fitting rebuke to an era of toxic masculinity.
Who’s leading the fight against MAGA? Women.
Women, both in the United States and abroad, once more have stepped to the forefront in the fight against right-wing authoritarianism. Their success will be critical to the survival of democracy and the rule of law.In Israel, women outraged at the government’s new repressive proposals are taking a prominent role in the mass protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial “reform” push. “Demonstrations against the government’s judicial overhaul entered their 33rd week on Saturday evening as protests continued to roil the military, activists took aim at the coalition’s transportation restrictions, and top scientists warned of severe damage to Israel’s international academic standing,” The Times of Israel reported. Organizers said the main protest at Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street would “only be addressed by female speakers, citing several recent incidents of alleged ultra-Orthodox discrimination against female bus and plane passengers that have made national headlines.”
What begins as repression against women can trigger a full-blown revolt against a repressive regime. Almost a year ago in Iran, mass demonstrations erupted over the death of a young woman who was detained by the regime’s “morality police.” As the New York Times reported: “Iran was convulsed in demonstrations and riots following the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the country’s morality police after officers accused her of wearing her state-mandated religious veil too loosely. Hundreds were killed in the ensuing government crackdown, including at least 44 minors, while around 20,000 Iranians were arrested, the United Nations calculated.” Iran is again cracking down in anticipation of renewed demonstrations.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the political might of women has accelerated, with a Democratic bent, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. The result might be a redrawn political map and new setbacks for the forced-birth MAGA movement.
As Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg explained, “We saw a huge spike in women registering to vote after Dobbs, and we saw Democrats outperform our 2020 numbers by 7 points in 5 House special elections and even more in Kansas. There was an immediate, positive spike in Dem performance for us after Dobbs.” The impact of female voters and reproductive rights more generally is now widely seen as asubstantial factor in Democrats’ better-than-expected midterm results.
With the rise in the share of women with college degrees(who now outnumber men with degrees), a critical demographic for Democrats, Republicans have begun to face a fierce backlash in unexpected places. In Arizona, for example, pro-choice groups are looking to repeat successes in Ohio and Kansas. Their efforts are underway to secure signatures for a ballot initiative in the November 2024 election that would secure abortion rights in the state constitution. The Post reported recently: “If the initiative makes it on Arizona’s ballot, it could have implications for the reelection of President Biden. ... About 62 percent of Arizona residents surveyed have said abortion should be legal in most or all cases, compared with 64 percent nationally.” Moreover, “The initiative could help turn out independent voters, who make up about a third of the state’s electorate and who, along with some moderate Republicans, helped abortion rights candidates sweep key statewide offices in recent years.”
None of this should be surprising. Historically, women have frequently been at the forefront of movements aimed to topple authoritarian regimes. Given the toxic masculinity of many dictators and their drive to subjugate women, women have consistently rebelled against hyper-misogyny and then used their moral standing as wives and mothers to rally a broader coalition of repressed people.
Mothers in the Soviet Union rallied the nation against the Soviets’ war in Afghanistan, helping to bring the communist regime to its knees. The Ladies in White highlighted human rights abuses in Cuba. Women led the fight to pass the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And women were at the forefront of the resistance after now four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump’s 2016 election. Just as they did in the wake of that election, women in the post-Dobbsworld are helping energize anti-MAGA forces.
Women’s inherent capacity for networking, organizing and manipulating around power structures makes them ideal foot soldiers in the battle for democracy. Hillary Clinton had it right when she said, “Women’s rights are human rights.” And conversely, women are essential to securing democracy, human rights and the rule of law for all repressed people.
Republicans have failed to recognize that once women are galvanized — by war, by repression and by threats to their health care and autonomy — they become a potent force against regimes and movements seeking to diminish their power and confine the scope of women’s lives. Women’s ability to turn political issues into moral and personal crusades can supercharge progressive movements and parties. Having run roughshod over women’s rights, the MAGA Republican Party now might pay the price. That would be a fitting rebuke to an era of toxic masculinity.
