Donald Trump, “protector” of women: This deeply sexist notion has a long legal history

In a rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump appealed to women voters by positioning himself as their protector, echoing historical gender inequality rooted in Anglo-American law. His rhetoric of protection for women in various settings reflects a narrative of controlling women through supposed benevolence, similar to the concept of coverture where women were legally subordinate to their husbands. Trump’s stance on abortion, claiming to protect women from thinking about it, contradicts the historical context of reproductive rights deeply ingrained in American tradition, with early laws allowing abortion before quickening as a form of bodily autonomy.

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