Ever since Trump came into office, I can't help but notice the rise in self-proclaimed feminists and even intersectional feminists. It's great, really. It's great to see more people on campus in support of diversity and multiculturalism and gender equality. If there's anything that man had done by coming into office, it woke people up to all the issues happening around them. It's made several social movements stronger as a result.

But here's the thing: your activism shouldn't be based solely on the hatred of another individual. Yes, Trump is probably a symbol of some of the worst humanity has to offer. However, his presence and you bashing him shouldn't be the only reason you call yourself, for example, a feminist. Especially at the Women's Parade at the end of January, I can't help but notice how many of the signs were based on bashing Trump, his words, rather than talking about the issues actually plaguing the country.

Those people who are ardent in how much they hate the man in the office, they're also the same people who make life so much more difficult for minority groups in this country and on a smaller level, on this campus. They're the ones who will still slut shame girls. They're the ones who get scared when a black person walks by them at night. They're the ones who claim to be LGBTQ allies, but then say they're looking for their 'gay best friend'. They're the ones who look down at their desks when we start talking about issues surrounding race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, gender identity, and more. They're the ones, at the end day, who shed their 'activism' like a coat- these issues don't actually matter to them because lucky for them, the Trump Administration hasn't affected their everyday lives yet. They're just in it because it was 'cool' or what looked like the 'right thing to do'.

Activism isn't meant to be easy. Being woke isn't meant to be easy- it's exhausting. It can take the joy out of a lot of things we enjoy simply because we have to condition ourselves to think of which groups of people are excluded or taken advantage of as a result of serving the majority. But you do it anyway because you care. You care about your country and your people and you know your government can be so much better than it is now.

Bashing on another person, however, is easy. We do it every day (at least I know I do in small doses)- it can be fun, even when it shouldn't be. But that's all there is to it. Bashing on another person, regardless of how worst they can be, doesn't help anyone at the end of the day.

Because really, if we focus only on how much we hate Trump, what's going to happen when he leaves the office? No matter how progressive the next president might be, those issues are still going to exist. They did before Trump so I don't see them leaving any time soon. And if your activism was based solely on how much you hated Trump and his administration?

Well, I guess progress hasn't quite caught up yet.