While the anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration once again featured several self-proclaimed “Women’s March” events throughout the U.S., one female progressive at the University of California, Berkeley, chose to sit out the protests this year, complaining that the events are not radical enough and are comparable to a “parade.”
In a commentary published in the Daily Californian, UC Berkeley’s official student newspaper, Berkeley student Anna Tseselsky wistfully recalled her experiences at her first Women’s March following the election of Trump, where she became convinced that she herself could stop his presidency.
“Last year, after the nightmarish haze that was Nov. 8, I found myself the next day standing on an overpass that looks over Interstate 280, hanging a “F*CK TRUMP” banner for all to see,” wrote Tseselsky. “I later joined hundreds of other women in the streets of downtown San Jose for the first-ever Women’s March. Posters clenched in my fist, I was convinced that I could dismantle the presidency with my own bare hands.”
Sadly, Tseselsky admits she was forced to boycott this year’s Women’s March in late January, not because she now supports Trump, but because according to her, the event has lost its “revolutionary fervor.”
Among the reasons Tseselsky gives for avoiding the march is the popularity of the pink “pussy hat” among marchers, which she believes alienates trans-women.
“The popular and now iconic ‘pussy hat’ donned by some marchers has been rightfully criticized for alienating trans women and non-binary participants, narrowing the conversation about female empowerment regarding genitalia,” she wrote.
Additionally, Tseselsky feels that the Women’s March has apparently become too “acceptable” in the public view, especially because event organizers now apply for city permits and utilize security from local police.
“When your ‘protests’ are deemed acceptable because they are escorted by police and granted city permits — in other words, sanctioned by the same state perpetuating the violence you’re organizing against — who are you really resisting?” she asks.
Tseselsky, who acknowledges being a student on one of the most politically polarized college campuses in the country, goes on to describe fears that future protests at Berkeley will merely become opportunities to make funny signs and take selfies, rather than be utilized as effective opportunities to “mobilize and agitate.”
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“Are we going to use [protests] to see who can make the funniest sign and take protest selfies? Will we treat them as performative and self-indulgent image boosters, a way to increase our social capital to seem cooler and “woker” than we actually are?” Tseselsky questioned. “Or are we going to organize, mobilize and agitate strategically and effectively?”
While Tseselsky may consider protests at Berkeley to be fairly tame, many members of the Berkeley community would disagree. The Berkeley campus was repeatedly subject to threats of violent protests in 2017, and administrators and students were even forced to cancel or postpone a number of events featuring conservative speakers such as Ann Coulter and Ben Shapiro, as well as provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.
