Donald Trump, Women and the Class Divide

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump incites a complex set of visceral reactions from women. And what female voters think of Trump will matter a lot in November's election.  

Women both outnumber and out-vote men, and numerous recent polls find a majority of women view Trump unfavorably.

Locally, reactions to Trump tend to break down along class lines. Upper crust ladies are often opposed to his candidacy, while the GOP's more middle class and suburban moms in New Jersey and Long Island are more likely to support Trump.

"Trump has no concern about etiquette, politeness, these are all things we associate with the sophisticated, old world elite," said Nancy Isenberg, the T. Harry Williams professor of American history at Louisiana State University.

Instead, Trump has cultivated an alpha male persona that is more reality TV show than presidential. That rejection of civility and politically correct speech is what appeals to some middle-class and working-class women. Perhaps, said Isenberg, he sounds a lot like their husbands, fathers, and brothers, and they are trained from an early age to make excuses for male bad behavior.

"In American politics, class identity is often tied up with how we measure masculinity. We've had various periods in American history where Americans bemoan the loss of masculinity. That was kind of cited when [Ronald] Reagan was elected, it was part of the rise of Teddy Roosevelt," said Isenberg, who also wrote the book White Trash. The 400-year Untold History of Class in America.

Trump may be zeroing in on how these women imagine leadership in terms of gender and class identity, offering them an almost paternal validation in exchange for their support.

We've been interviewing local women about Donald Trump since last year. Here is what a few had to say about Trump's proposed policies, like building a wall on the Mexican border, barring U.S. entry to Muslims, and his overall treatment of and comments about women:

"Men will be men. We may overhear what they have to say about women, and it may be offensive to some women who have sort of a victim mentality, but the way I look at it is, I don’t feel victimized by men; it just doesn’t offend me." Carol Taber, Bergen County, NJ.

"If you can say this to my face, what are you saying when you’re with your boys? it’s not grown-men talk, it's what you say at the ball park, when you’re bored, [when] you're hanging out with your boys. If you’re thinking about me like that and I don’t look nothing like you, I know for sure your policies are not going to help my life." Stephanie Arno, East New York, Brooklyn.

"I've said things to people and people have said things to me when I was putting on a pound or two, and I was thrilled that they said it to me. To say that his comments mean [Trump] hates women is absurd." Lauren Lawrence, New York, NY.

"We can't help other people if we don't help ourselves first. I've learned that. I'm a mother of nine children. If we don't watch who's coming in....look, we should be a beacon of hope. And we can't do that for America if we don't take care of ourselves first." Rosemary Koepele, Lloyd Neck, Long Island.

"[Trump] should change his stance on the Muslim situation. That's very disturbing. As a Christian that’s not how we view the world, and so that's hard for me to think about putting someone like that in the White House." Lauren Brown, New York, NY.

"As an American-Muslim woman I get to hear him from two perspectives. This idea that my family may be banned from coming to the country, that I may be registered as a Muslim so I can be identified as a Muslim, it's like a full nightmare with Donald Trump. He scares me, he scares my children, he scares our community." Linda Sarsour, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.