A decade after Trump descended that golden escalator, his presidency has unleashed a cultural and political backlash that threatens generations of progress toward women’s equality—demanding a bold, collective response.
It’s been 10 years since Donald Trump rode down that golden escalator, launching a political career built on division, grievance and menace. In that decade, we’ve witnessed something unprecedented: the systematic rollback of progress on women’s equality that took generations to achieve.
For decades before Trump’s political rise, we fought for women’s equality, advancing one hard-won victory at a time. Reproductive freedom. Economic independence. Workplace equity. Protection from harassment and violence.
We were getting somewhere—until Trump’s ascendance gave millions of Americans permission to say the quiet part out loud: Women shouldn’t be equal to men, and they certainly don’t belong in the workplace.
The evidence is staggering.
- In 2022, fewer than 30 percent of Republican men believed women should return to traditional roles. By 2024, that number jumped to 48 percent.
- In that same year, nearly half of young Democratic men agreed “feminism has caused more harm than good.”
- Young boys have become less supportive of gender equality, with the share of 8th and 10th grade boys who “completely agreed” that women deserve equal pay dropping from 72 percent in 2018 to 57 percent in 2023.
- Alongside the CEO of Meta calling for more “masculine energy” in the workplace, eight in 10 Republican men and two-thirds of Republican women now say American society has gotten too “soft and feminine.”
This isn’t just political polarization. This is a fundamental rejection of women’s equality fueled by a sitting president intent on rolling back women’s progress.
The Trump administration has spent its first six months dismantling protections for women’s economic independence. It has endangered access to life-saving abortions while scrubbing reproductive health information from government websites. The administration decimated the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which monitored pay discrimination. It erased federal recognition of gender expansive workers and weaponized the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to intimidate employers promoting workplace equality. Most recently, it threatened to close the 105-year-old Women’s Bureau, which supports women workers.
Trump’s ascendance gave millions of Americans permission to say the quiet part out loud: Women shouldn’t be equal to men, and they certainly don’t belong in the workplace.
The cumulative impact is devastating. Without federal oversight, employers can discriminate with impunity, widening the gender pay gap and leaving sexual harassment uninvestigated. Pregnancy discrimination flourishes. These forces push women out of good-paying jobs and back into economic dependence, hitting women of color hardest.
Through words and actions, the president has signaled that certain Americans don’t deserve equal treatment, giving employers, doctors, teachers and neighbors permission to act on their biases. This is cultural warfare disguised as policy, and we cannot fight it with politics alone.
I’ve spent decades fighting for women’s workplace rights. But the current moment demands something more. We need a comprehensive cultural campaign to rebuild the social consensus that women deserve equality—not just legally, but morally and practically.
Every woman and man who believes in equality can fight back.
Stand up for equality personally. While federal protections face threats, we must organize community by community, workplace by workplace. Know your rights under local and state laws. Support women-owned businesses. Demand pay transparency from your employer. Join professional women’s networks that advance women’s careers.
Hold your elected representatives accountable. Remember, the executive branch cannot change laws acting alone. Judges have temporarily halted nearly 200 of Trump’s executive orders since January. Stay in touch with your elected representatives to demand action against executive overreach.
Leverage economic power. Women control 85 percent of household purchasing decisions. Support companies that promote gender equality and boycott those that don’t. Investors should also prioritize companies with diverse leadership because they consistently outperform their peers.
Reclaim the narrative about women’s contributions. When someone voices regressive views about women’s capabilities, speak up immediately—not just with statistics, but with stories of women you know who’ve succeeded. Document and celebrate women’s achievements in your communities. Make women’s contributions visible and undeniable.
Focus on the next generation. The polling on young men’s attitudes is alarming, but not irreversible. For young boys, especially, we need to call in rather than call out. We need boys and men championing women’s rights. Replace the manosphere’s toxic misogyny and violence with the power of empathy, the strength of cooperation, and the courage to build a better world.
Make the economic case relentlessly. Companies with gender-diverse leadership are 27 percent more likely to outperform on profitability. Women-owned businesses generate $2.7 trillion in revenue annually. Countries with greater gender equality have stronger economies. Make it clear that discrimination isn’t just morally wrong—it’s economically stupid.
We must rebuild the cultural consensus for women’s equality one relationship, one workplace, one community at a time.
