Women’s day and the MAGA prejudice machine by Mia Rodríguez

Every year, March 8th serves as a stark reminder of the long and painful struggle for gender equality. International Women’s Day is not just a celebration but a battle cry, one that echoes through time, carrying the voices of those who have fought for their right to vote, their right to work, their right to exist beyond the shackles of a patriarchal status quo. Yet, in the so-called “land of the free,” the very essence of equality continues to be suffocated under a thick, sticky layer of reactionary ideology, one that found its most grotesque form in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

Donald Trump, a man who built his political empire on a foundation of misogyny, dog-whistle racism, and performative patriotism, represents the epitome of the backlash against progress. His administration was a four-year-long middle finger to gender equality, labor rights, and the very notion of social progress. Under his watch, women’s rights weren’t just ignored; they were actively undermined. Reproductive rights? Threatened at every turn. Equal pay? Stagnant, because why bother? Representation in leadership? Only if the woman in question was willing to pander to the conservative male gaze and toe the line of right-wing dogma.

The MAGA cult’s disdain for women’s rights isn’t subtle, it’s proudly worn on their red, white, and blue camouflage vests, paraded at rallies where “Lock her up!” became a rallying cry against women who dared to exist in positions of power. It’s evident in Supreme Court appointments designed to strip away bodily autonomy, in the gutting of workplace protections, and in the mockery Trump made of the #MeToo movement, brushing aside sexual assault allegations with the arrogance of a man who has never faced consequences.

And yet, the war against women did not end with Trump’s eviction from the White House. The movement he spearheaded, this grotesque Frankenstein’s monster of bigotry, fear, and nostalgia for a time when women “knew their place” continues to fester within the veins of American politics. The Supreme Court’s attack on Roe v. Wade, the rise of anti-feminist rhetoric in the far-right sphere, and the continuous assault on LGBTQ+ rights are all symptoms of a disease that MAGA has helped to metastasize.

Gender equality isn’t just about policies; it’s about culture, about dismantling the systemic structures that allow men like Trump to rise to power and wield misogyny as a weapon. It’s about calling out the hypocrisy of a movement that claims to defend freedom while actively stripping away the freedoms of half the population. It’s about refusing to let a slogan like “Make America Great Again” be an excuse for dragging women back into the 1950s kitchen where their ambitions were smothered under the weight of unpaid labor and smiling servitude.

International Women’s Day is a celebration, yes, but it is also an indictment of the world we still live in a world where gender equality is still a radical concept rather than a given. It is a day to remember that progress is not inevitable. It must be fought for, tooth and nail, because every gain made can be undone by the next wave of populist, patriarchal backlash. And if MAGA’s war on women proves anything, it’s that the battle is far from over.