Boston Athenæum

October 18, 2017 at the Boston Athenæum. The 2016 election of Donald Trump to the presidency was a devastating blow to the country’s marginalized populations—immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community, and Black Americans, to name a few. Intersecting with each of these groups were women, who despaired as their rights as equal citizens were called into question. Women of all walks of life bore witness as one of the most qualified candidates in history, Hillary Clinton, lost to an inexperienced reality star and real estate mogul who boasted about his predatory behavior. Has the country become more misogynistic, or simply shown its true face? If 53% of white women voted for Trump and 94% of black women voted for Hillary, can women unite in America? Can we conceive of “women” as a cohesive group? In the face of overwhelming challenge, how can we work together to persist, resist, and enact lasting change? These are some of the questions addressed in Nasty Women, an anthology of original essays from leading femini