Protests Against Sexual Harassment
Women have been fighting for their rights through protesting. Since ancient times in the US, women have not been treated as equally as men. Consequently, they have been staging demonstrations in the US to show their solidarity. Political leaders have been abusing their authority by using vulgar language against women. Therefore, I will use strategic ways to mobilize women, acquire support from other groups, and protest to achieve both the short-term and long-term goals of my social organization because I have the right to protect the interests of the women.
My Strategy
My strategy will involve civil resistance through the use of visual images, songs, and chants. Chants attract people to join protests (Schwartzberg 161). I will mobilize women groups and incite them against political oppression aimed at sexually assaulting them. Besides, I will compel the administration to seek forgiveness from all the women. Through demonstrations and petitions, I will push for legal action to be taken against the perpetrators of injustice. Also, I will encourage protestors to block major highways and cause traffic until we get full support from the public for our course.
The nature of the protest determines its success. Most civil resistance protests, such as the Women’s march, are successful because they do not involve violence and last longer (Vinthagen 7). Civil resistance is legal in the US. Therefore, protestors are allowed to present their grievances diplomatically and peacefully disrupt normal operations. The tactic of civil resistance has been used across the globe. In particular, the US public protests were staged by women protesting the vulgar language used by Trump against them in 2017.
The History of My Issue and why it is a Problem
Gender inequality has been the primary cause of many protests staged by women in the USA. Women have been grouped in “others” by President Trump (Gökarıksel and Smith 1). This norm has existed for a long time in the US. Since the colonial era, women in American never shared equal privileges with men. Thus, they are disregarded and are considered last in most social and economic engagements.
Gender inequality is a big problem in the current world. In essence, it impacts the lives of individuals and communities negatively. For instance, Trump used obscene words that targeted women (Weber et al., 2). The women felt disrespected and had to find a way to deal with Trump’s misbehavior. The words that Trump mentioned were never meant for US women alone. Therefore, women sought support globally, which attracted tremendous numbers. In solidarity, they protested in the streets.
What the Public Feels About my Issue
The public understands why I am protesting against gender inequality because we share a common interest. My supporters are from different racial backgrounds and are willing to support my movement since we desire the same change (Weber et al., 3). When words are spoken and targeted to a specific gender, the impact is spread across all genders. Insulting women implies an abuse to men’s wives. Therefore, men are also disrespected when such utterances are made publicly. Hence, due to the weight of this matter, it will not be challenging to get supporters for my movement.
There are more groups such as Time’sUp movement in the US working on the same issue of gender inequality. This movement is working on sexual harassment in the film industry (Ale par. 2). Our campaign is handling this issue differently by working for all women in the US. In these two cases, women share a similar experience of sexual harassment. Therefore, there are other social movements that experience the predicament we encounter.
My Short-term and Long-term Goals
The protests we have started will not end soon, as long as gender disparities exist in the USA. Because of this reason, my short-term and long-term goals are to ensure that women’s sexuality is respected and they are equally treated like men in the USA. I understand that more efforts are needed to make my goals real. I will continuously protest and engage all women in diverting their full energy to resist any form of mistreatment in the USA.
My course of action is universal for people that are oppressed due to their gender. Human rights activists and other social movements such as Time’sUp movement might join my protests (Ale par. 2). Since their agenda is based on protecting women’s rights, their mission is similar to the issue I am handling. Hence, we all share a joint project of protesting against harassment based on gender.
Expected Reaction From my Target
Protests have never been received delightedly. Therefore, I expect the targeted individuals to resist my efforts. President Trump tweeted the day after Women’s march in 2017, asking women why they did not vote him (Wagner par. 3). By asking this question, he used his political influence to respond to the women’s march. By protesting, I undermine their authority, and they might fight back to protect their position. Therefore, perpetrators of injustice are always ready to defend their actions even if they are unjustified.
The song titled “We Shall Overcome” represents my movement. This song inspires individuals to join protesters and stage demonstrations as a larger organization (Manabe 5). The song unites my members, who have grown to 1,500,000 supporters in all the states of America. Songs are powerful tools used by protesters to communicate their message to the targets. They can be coupled with chants and result in fruitful demonstrations.
In conclusion, protests staged by women are fueled by social injustices, among them political oppression from male administrators. Trump’s behavior caused worldwide protests because he disrespected women by uttering abusive words. When women are agitated by gender-related messages, they opt to show their solidarity through demonstrations. Many social movements support women’s activities, and such organizations engage in protests with them to show unity in fighting against social injustice. If women compose songs and chants with messages they intend to relay, they can achieve the objective of their demonstrations.
Works Cited
Ale, Russian. “Meryl Streep, Shonda Rhimes: Biggest Donations to Time’s Up.” People.com, 2018, www.people.com/movies/reese-witherspoon-taylor-swift-jennifer-aniston-see-whos-given-500k-more-to-fight-harassment/. Accessed 30 April 2020
Gökarıksel, Banu, and Sara Smith. “Intersectional feminism beyond US flag hijab and pussy hats in Trump’s America.” Gender, Place & Culture 24.5 (2017): 628-644.
Manabe, Noriko. “Women’s March Colloquy – Chants of the Resistance: Flow, Memory, and Inclusivity.” Music and Politics, vol. 13, no. 1, 2019, doi:10.3998/mp.9460447. 0013.105.
Schwartzberg, Melissa. Protest and Dissent. New York University Press, 2020.
Vinthagen, Stellan. A Theory of Nonviolent Action: How Civil Resistance Works. Zed Books, 2015.
Wagner, John. “Trump Takes to Twitter to Weigh in on Women’s March, TV Ratings for Inauguration.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Jan. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/22/trump-takes-to-twitter-to-weigh-in-on-womens-march-tv-ratings-for-inauguration/. Accessed 30 April 2020
Weber, Kirsten M., Tisha Dejmanee, and Flemming Rhode. “The 2017 Women’s March on Washington: An analysis of protest-sign messages.” International Journal of Communication 12.2018 (2018): 2289-2313.