With a mix of Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child and Ariana Grande playing in the background, Feminist Student Association leaders handed out paper for people to compose letters, some addressing them to the Trump campaign office in New York.
Three weeks ago, the Washington Post published a tape in which Donald Trump made derogatory marks about a former love interest and said the now-infamous “Grab ’em by the pussy” line, so IU Feminist Student Association decided to make a statement of their own Thursday evening.
At Pussies Grab Back, an event hosted by FSA, around 15 people wrote letters to Trump and other politicians about their concerns this election, especially with regard to Trump’s comments on women.
“We try to be non-partisan,” IU Feminist Association President Carmen Vernon said. “But Trump is so alienating.”
Vernon said different groups around the country have adopted this notion of “Pussies Grab Back” and have been writing to Trump and other politicians.
The Pussies Grab Back meeting began by showing attendees the music video for Pussy Riot’s song “Straight Outta Vagina.”
For IU student Stephanie Whitlock, not only are the letters a way to express her thoughts on Trump, but they serve as an emotional outlet. Whitlock is involved in other campus activist groups, including Students for a Democratic Society.
“I hate Donald Trump with everything I am,” Whitlock said. “It’s really therapeutic to get down in words. We are not the only people doing this.”
Whitlock focused her letter on her personal experiences with sexual assault and harassment.
She said the way Trump speaks and acts towards women only validates the views of the people who assaulted her and reinforces the views of people who are against women.
“He claims they’re just words,” Whitlock said.
Another letter writer, Suzie Wilcox, said she acknowledges the fact that Donald Trump or someone from his campaign might not read the letters, but she still liked the idea of getting to “shit all over Donald Trump.”
In her letter, she said she wrote about her anger towards Donald Trump’s consistent themes of degradation of women and xenophobia.
“There are things in our culture that are kind of terrifying,” Wilcox said. “The amount of women that support him is really sad more than anything.”
Wilcox said she hopes the influx of letters from around the nation make Trump aware of how appalled people are at his comments.
The group also took videos of those who wanted to share their letters and plan to make a video compiling the individual clips.
Vernon said that if Trump is elected, the FSA hopes to have more politically focused events, like the letter-writing campaign, aside from the rallies and other general meetings.
“If he becomes president, which is a scary, scary thought, we will switch gears from lots of educational and other meetings to become more policy-focused,” Vernon said.
In the meantime, the FSA is planning a carpool to “The Revolution Will Be Uterized” rally in Indianapolis on Nov. 2 to protest Trump and running mate Mike Pence.
