“Your body, my choice.” This is rhetoric that has been spread across social media following the 2024 presidential election. The term was coined by Nicholas Fuentes, a right-wing neo-Nazi who has gained significant attention over the past several years for his radical and extreme views. Although Fuentes was the first to use it, the phrase has been echoed across every platform by thousands of users—and young men make up a significant portion of these users.
When the American people chose Donald Trump as president-elect on Nov. 5, it came as a major shock to much of the country. Questions about the future of abortion rights and immigration have been of particular concern, with many young women and minorities fearing for their lives. Donald Trump has promised to keep the decision of abortion rights to the states, which would effectively deprive women around the United States of necessary reproductive healthcare. In regard to immigration, Trump has expressed plans to build a wall on the southern border and execute mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, which will inevitably tear families apart. More radically, Trump has suggested denaturalizing people born in the United States who are the children of undocumented immigrants. After running a campaign completely built on fear-mongering, Trump’s victory has successfully left many Americans who voted for his opposition feeling deeply uncertain and afraid about what the future holds.
The genuine fear that many are presently experiencing is what makes this phrase so alarming.
Your body, my choice.
Your body, my choice.
The original “my body, my choice,” once intended to empower women, has been twisted into a misogynistic tool of manipulation, undermining female autonomy and commodifying women. Extremist bigots on the internet are not the only people spreading this rhetoric: young boys are identifying with it as well. Whether through harassing young girls at school or supporting fellow misogynists online, the wide-scale corruption of young boys by bigoted trolls looking to prey on vulnerable groups has become increasingly prominent. They do not stop at misogyny, as their principles look to hate any marginalized group under the sun. Now that the United States has elected a leader unafraid to share his disgusting ideologies about minorities and women, this issue will only get worse.
Donald Trump’s second victory marked one of the most regressive moments in recent American history. His campaign preyed on vulnerable individuals, particularly those seeking to find their place socially and politically. Young boys will continue to fall deeper and deeper into this right-wing extremist rabbit hole to which Trump’s campaign has acted as a gateway. This influence not only threatens to normalize harmful ideologies but also shapes a generation’s views on tolerance, equality and democracy, amplifying division and encouraging a culture of polarization. If Donald Trump has normalized these ideologies to the extent that they resonate with American youth, how will future generations, who are currently being indoctrinated by this era of right-wing radicalism, ultimately be the ones to eradicate it? The detrimental long-term social impacts of Trump’s victory will prove to heavily outweigh any benefits of his presidency—short-term or long-term.
Admittedly, I am scared for the future of the United States. When I go online, I see posts from teenage boys about how they want to rape and kill women, saying that they will be able to get away with it now. I watch videos of J.D. Vance essentially implying that reproduction is the only purpose a woman serves. I hear stories about women who were denied access to abortions in critical moments and died due to health implications. Scared is an understatement—I am terrified.
To watch a highly qualified and highly intelligent Black and South Asian woman fall to an alleged rapist and convicted felon makes me shudder. I cannot help but attribute it to systemic misogyny and racism. It is not necessarily that I believe right-wing groups terrorizing marginalized communities would not exist under the presidency of Kamala Harris, but at least the face of the United States would not be an individual who promotes these ideologies.
As pessimistic as I would like to be, I acknowledge that navigating these scary times cannot be done alone. Now more than ever it is crucial that Americans come together to combat bigotry in any way they can: community will restore the United States. The country is presently divided and for very good reason. Half of the country essentially voted against the rights and interests of the other half of the country, with many voting against their own self-interest. But this division should not stop people from coming together and going to work. It is this persistence and collaboration that will make the regressive work of Donald Trump that much more difficult to execute.