Gender essentialist rhetoric was used to construct women as inherently biologically and intellectually inferior to men, with a new transfer of power signalling a restoration of ‘natural’ (male) leadership:
“men ruled the world and always will. Cry and seethe more you fucking losers” (User 15). This same rhetoric was used to delegitimise valid concerns over restrictions to reproductive health and gender expression, with users arguing that women were
“inherent attention seekers” (Users 18, 33) who were
“just overreacting like it’s the end of the world, in their typical manner of spoiled brats” (User 26). While reproductive healthcare and access to safe abortions have been repeatedly
targeted by the GOP on the basis of religious morality, users’ discussions departed from this view. Instead, conversations about access to safe abortions were inherently tied to users’ views of women as promiscuous and
“lawfully degenerate”, who retain
“the power to dispose their unborn babies … [under] the guise of muhh body muhh choice” (Users 17, 21). Despite Trump’s
consistent waffling on abortion, users celebrated his election as a clear win against women’s freedoms, revelling in the prospect of increasing restrictions on reproductive health:
“We are coming for Foids rights and not only make America great again, Make men Great again too” (User 35).
