Thread by @monaeltahawy

Last night, Abby Johnson spoke at the #RNCConvention. She has recently advocated for "bringing back" head-of-household voting, i.e. men.

Today is the centennial of the 19th Amendment taking effect, giving white women suffrage. Timing! 19thnews.org/2020/08/on-eve… h/t @rerutled

So as you tweet #WomensEqualityDay - which marks the 19th Amendment taking effect - ask why the #RNCConvention platformed a woman who advocates for the reversal of that suffrage.

The GOP happily suppresses the vote of Black and people of colour.

And now also white women.

Abby Johnson - who is of course virulently anti abortion - is Exhibit A for white women who are Bootlickers of the Patriarchy.

I usually call them Footsoldiers of the Patriarchy. That is not enough.

I’ve been asked countless times by mostly white people “Why do Muslim women submit to so much misogyny?” I’m now asking same question about white women like Abby Johnson and those who vote GOP google.com/amp/s/theconve…

“Thus, it is within married women’s interests to support policies and politicians who protect their husbands and improve their status.”
#FootsoldiersOfThePatriarchy

“For these white women Republicans, their concern for their husbands’ and sons’ welfare may lead them to stay with a party whose leaders prioritize the economic interests of those men.”
#FootsoldiersOfThePatriarchy

“The notion of benevolent patriarchy allows conservative women to feel that if they submit to their husband’s wills, they can benefit through their husband’s protection and economic care.”
#FootsoldiersOfThePatriarchy

I post these threads with “White people ask me why Muslim women put up with misogyny” because I know that white GOP-voting women often lament the plight of “Muslim women” and buy into “you’re lucky you’re a woman in America and not over there.”

Those same white women don’t see their own indoctrination:God, guns, white men.Because they’re white it’s not seen as indoctrination it’s considered “normal,” default, “how things are.”

Their equivalents in Muslim/other backgrounds are “abnormal” “brainwashed” & pathologized

It’s always easier for - always white - women to wonder how to help women “over there”than to ask how to fight for women “over here.”White patriarchs love to play “You should be grateful to live in America. It’s shit over there for women.” Yeah, it’s shit “over here” too, Mr. Man

I’ve written lots about patriarchy & misogyny in my cultural & faith background. I’ve never asked anyone to “save us.” No one saves you. You save yourself.

When -always white- woman at my events asks me “what can I do to help women in the Middle East” I say ”Nothing. Fight here”

These “Women for Trump”:
- Who indoctrinated them?
- Who taught them to submit to men?
- Why are they so brainwashed?
- Should I save them?

I promise you a book on all of this.
#FootsoldiersOfThePatriarchy

Much like the instant experts on Islam & Mideast who after a week in the region write books explaining us to ourselves, I shall write my book explaining white women to themselves.

After 20yrs in the USA, I’ve earned it.

#FootsoldiersOfThePatriarchy

And my book will be called #NotAllWhiteWomen because of course whenever I write about white women who serve as #FootsoldiersOfThePatriarchy, I invariably get #NotAllWhiteWomen

Last year, I quoted Annie Kelly, who is researching the impact of digital cultures on anti-feminism and the far right, saying that in the online white supremacist subcultures she studies, she has observed more and more talk of reversing women’s suffrage. google.com/amp/s/www.nbcn…

#RNCConvention and Abby Johnson last night said out loud what those white supremacists have been whispering among themselves.

Analysts of white supremacy focus on the violence carried out, mostly, by men. But they aren’t paying enough attention to the role of women. Exposing the ideology’s racism and violence is important, but the misogyny at the heart of the ideology must not be erased or ignored.

That is what I argued in this oped from 2019 google.com/amp/s/www.nbcn…