Letter: “Silence is the Problem”

To the Editor:

“Quiet, piggy. Quiet. You’re low IQ" "Ugly." "Terrible person.”
These are the kinds of insults the President of the United States has directed at women. Whenever he is asked a legitimate question, whether about the economy, the Epstein files, or his protection of the Saudi Crown Prince, he responds not with answers, but with attacks, often aimed specifically at women journalists and public figures.

His behavior is openly misogynistic, as if the woman questioning him belongs barefoot and silent rather than educated, professional, and deserving of respect. He broadcasts his disdain for women nearly every day: the eye-rolls, the interruptions, the sneering tone, the attempts to shrink them with humiliation. This is not normal, and it should never be dismissed as “just his style.”
​
The President’s underlying message when he degrades women is clear:
“I decide what the truth is. I decide your worth.”

This is the behavior of someone who misuses power to intimidate and diminish. His entitlement to be cruel, especially toward women who present facts he does not like, is then marketed as “strength.” And the most troubling part is that it happens on live television with almost no real-time pushback. A powerful man publicly belittles women, and those around him go silent.
This silence is the problem.

When cruelty is not confronted, it becomes normalized. When misogyny goes unchallenged, it becomes acceptable. And when a leader repeatedly bullies, demeans, and attempts to invalidate women without consequence, it signals to the entire nation that abuse of power is permissible.

Every time the President behaves this way and no one speaks up, the bar drops lower. What was once unthinkable becomes ordinary.

And that is how authoritarian behavior takes root: not all at once, but through repetition, silence, and the slow erosion of what we are willing to call unacceptable.

Peace.
​
Michelle Petz, LCSW