I saw this clip from the Washington Post today of Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez speaking out against Congressman Yoho who called her “disgusting,” “dangerous” and a  “f*cking B*tch.” Cortez points out,

“Every congresswoman and every woman in this country, all of us, have had to deal with this in some form, some way, some shape in our lives. And I want to be clear that Representative Yoho’s comments were not deeply hurtful or piercing to me, because I have worked a working class job. I have waited tables…I have walked the streets in New York City. And this type of language is not new. I have encountered words uttered by Mr. Yoho and men uttering the same words as Mr. Yoho while I was being harassed in restaurants. I have tossed men out of bars that have used words like Mr. Yoho’s and I have encountered this type of harassment on the Subway in New York City. This is not new. And that is the problem…It is not about one incident: It is cultural. It is a culture of lack of impunity, of accepting of violence and violent language against women and an entire structure of power that supports that.”

And I do think this kind of abhorrent treatment is becoming more brazen under the current administration.

See the short clip here on the Washington Posts website. 

This clip really rang true for me because I watched it today, the day after I was called a sexist slur, a “cunt,” by some random guy screaming at me out the door of his Mustang.

Hell yes to the women who fight back and reclaim that word! (Or to the ones reading the phenomenal book Cunt, by Inga Musio.) Ladies, own that word: Do your thing! But if you are a man using it to demean a woman, no. The comment from this man honestly ruined my day: It made me feel like garbage. I know I shouldn’t have let some random nobody, pathetic guy whose pent-up anger is probably only the beginning of his issues, ruin my day and make me feel that way, but I couldn’t help it. It is comments like these that are aimed at putting a woman “in her place.” When men use that word towards women, what are they trying to accomplish? They are trying to insult a woman based on her gender, diminish her and put her back “in her place.”

AOC is a true hero. She speaks for the people and she speaks up about the way women are treated, saying, ENOUGH. Thank you AOC for standing up for us all.