Leslie Knope, though not technically a real person, has shared a powerful and moving new essay in light of the recent Electoral College victory given to a man who once bragged about grabbing women "by the pussy." The essay, penned by a Parks and Recreation writer for Vox, urges activists to continue fighting to prevent America from succumbing to the "hatred-swirled slop pile" from which the President-elect was born. But for anyone telling terrified citizens to simply accept Tuesday's results, Knope would like to remind you that respect is a two-way street.
"Hi, girls," Knope's message begins. "On behalf of the grown-ups of America who care about you and your futures, I am awfully sorry about how miserably we screwed this up. We elected a giant farting T. rex who does not like you, or care about you, or think about you, unless he is scanning your bodies with his creepy T. rex eyes or trying to physically grab you like a toy his daddy got him (or would have, if his daddy had loved him). (Sorry, that was a low blow.) (Actually, not sorry, I'm pissed, and I'm on a roll, so zip it, superego!)"
This particular President-elect, Knope adds, is "everything you should abhor and fear" in a male role model. In fact, he has repeatedly confirmed this through his actions. "He has spent his life telling you, and girls and women like you, that your lives are valueless except as sexual objects," Knope writes. "He has demeaned you, and belittled you, and put you in a little box to be looked at and not heard. It is your job, and the job of girls and women like you, to bust out."
The future looks bleak at the moment, but Knope is convinced young women can lead the charge toward a brighter one. "Your strength is a million times his," she says. "Your power is a billion times his. We will acknowledge this result, but we will not accept it. We will overcome it, and we will defeat it." Peep the essay in full here.
