Why Harris's Debate Performance Was Cathartic as Hell

Whether or not we've individually experienced sexual violence, sought abortion care, or had to contend with our own real-life versions of Donald Trump at some point in our lives, research shows that women experience "collective trauma," a concept first coined in Black and postcolonial literature to describe "both shared experiences of violence and their long after-effects or continuation among a population or group," according to a study done by feminist geographer Rachel Pain. Among other issues, the first Trump presidency unleashed a landslide of anti-women and anti-queer legislation that continues to bury us today, and a second Trump presidency promises to heap mud onto the pile. Still, I kept thinking about what my own trauma response would have looked like if it were me on stage with a sexual abuser and convicted felon, someone with no regard for my bodily autonomy and who's leading the movement to undo a century of work on my civil liberties.

Author: Emma Glassman-Hughes

---