2016 has been a pretty f*cking annoying year for women — Brock Turner, the Zika Virus, Prince Harry going off the market. And now, the icing on the cake: Donald Trump. Not only was our dream of electing America’s first female president and shattering that last political glass ceiling crushed, but we must now also consider what a Trump presidency means for the women of this country.

On so many levels, the 2016 election was like no other election ever seen. Gender was often at the forefront, dominating the discourse and setting the stage for what each candidates' presidency would look like. While Clinton fought hard for things like women's healthcare, paid family leave and equal pay, Trump basically took a giant dump on this fight.

First, he accused Clinton of playing the "woman card” in response to her policy proposals, whatever that means, and then, in a display of rhetorical brilliance, he branded her a “nasty woman.” At every single step of the election, he called out Clinton's femaleness, equating it with an inability to lead this country.

But the cherry on top of Trump’s wildly sexist campaign was the publication of a 2005 audio recording of a conversation, in which he brags in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women. It seemed like the end for Mr. Trump, with Republicans and Democrats alike denouncing his crude and sexist ways.

Nevertheless, last Tuesday, America voted Trump. All the sexist, misogynistic, masculine bullshit was not enough to prevent his victory. Now, not only does Trump physically threaten to demolish the progress women have made in this country by limiting access to affordable healthcare, abortion, equal pay, and higher education, but he also threatens the very foundations of the fight for women’s rights by effectively legitimizing misogyny with his newly granted authority. The sexism, particularly the aggressive imagery directed at Clinton, that characterized Trump's presidential campaign, has now been authorized by voters. If the president of the free world thinks, speaks, and acts to reinforce sexism and misogyny, then it threatens to become an inescapable part of our cultural landscape.

While many women mourn the outcome of the election, the reality is that a different election outcome would not have meant an end to sexism and misogyny. Would policy changes have provided powerful legal props in the fight for women’s rights? Probably. Would we have eradicated all sexist and misogynist rhetoric and thought from society? Hell no. Trump hasn’t created the sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic discourse in this country — he has simply given it a voice. This discourse exists as the dark underbelly of America, constantly shifting, changing, but never disappearing. It has largely been quelled by the progress of the last eight years, but now it is rising up once more, fueled by the blatant sexism of our president.

So, to anyone who dares to say that it is 2016, we no longer need feminism: I urge you to question your complacency. Now more than ever, we need everyone — nasty women and bad hombres alike — to stand up and fight for feminism. We need all the husbands, fathers, and brothers to stop prefacing their opposition to sexual assault and blatant sexism with a mention of their dear wife, sister, or daughter. Women do not need your pity; they just need you to treat them as equal members of society. You do not have to have a wife, sister, or daughter to know that women are people. It is 2016 and the feminist fight has suffered a catastrophic, shocking setback. It is not the first and it will not be the last, but we cannot afford to second-guess our mission. Even if those in power refuse to get on board, we all need to continue the feminist fight in 2016 and beyond.