In the aftermath of Tuesday's election, the lines of division between Americans have never been more clear. Especially between women.



There had been much talk of Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman elected President. And when it came to voting, most women of colour cast their ballots for her. But a quiet majority of white women voted Trump — paving his path to victory.



Now, those divisions continue to grow, as women begin to think about what a Trump presidency will mean for their rights.

Women hold signs as they protest the election of Republican Donald Trump as the president of the United States outside of City Hall in Los Angeles. (Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters)



Roxane Gay is an associate professor at Purdue University and the author of Bad Feminist. She spoke with As it Happens host Carol Off from Lafayette, Indiana. Here is part of their conversation. Roxane Gay is an associate professor at Purdue University and the author of Bad Feminist. She spoke with As it Happens host Carol Off from Lafayette, Indiana. Here is part of their conversation.

[M]any women are more invested in their whiteness than they are in their womanhood. - Roxane Gay, author of "Bad Feminist"

Carol Off: Professor Gay, how confident were you that the United States was going to see its first woman president?

Roxane Gay: I was very confident. I was too confident, apparently. I really, really believed — in my heart of hearts — that Hillary Clinton was going to be elected. I didn't even allow myself to imagine the possibility of a Trump presidency.

CO: And how are you feeling now?

RG: [Sighs]. Man. I feel defeated. And I'm chastising myself for underestimating the level of racism that's at work in the United States, that's for sure. I mean, I thought I knew this country was racist. But now I know.

A woman smiles after getting an autograph by U.S. Republican presidential candidate and businessman Donald Trump on her hat in Las Vegas in January 2016. (David Becker/Reuters)

CO: And why do think that racism is the reason why Trump prevailed over Hillary Clinton?

RG: I think a lot of it is pushback for eight years of having our first black president. I think a lot of it is that there's a lot or racial resentment among many Americans who believe that the American Dream means that they get whatever they want whenever they want it. And this is framed oftentimes with economic anxiety, which is not necessarily the case. There are too many Americans, frankly, that are suffering from economic instability, unemployment and profound poverty. But many of these voters actually voted for Hillary Clinton. The majority of Trump's voters made more than $50,000 a year. And so one of the things Trump did was speak to xenophobia, and making a spectre out of the Mexican immigrant as a rapist and criminal. And he has this preposterous idea of a wall along our southern border. And so this allowed people to really indulge in their racism. And then he made it even worse with talking about Muslims and how he was going to ban Muslims from immigrating to the United States.

CO: Why do you think that so many women voted for Mr. Trump?

Women are trying to protect themselves and make sure they have some kind of birth control in place. We're at the worst-case scenario with Trump as president. We just don't know what he's going to do. - Roxane Gay

RG: Because I think that many women are more invested in their whiteness than they are in their womanhood. I think they're more invested in protecting white privilege than they are in their womanhood and the disadvantages they might face as a woman. I think that most women simply aren't feminists and aren't intersectional in their thinking about feminism. So they're only thinking about themselves and people like them. And they're not thinking about the repercussions of a Trump presidency for other kinds of women. I think that misogyny is so pervasive that women internalise it and believe it as well. I think that many women have convinced themselves that the way Trump treats women is just how guys are. And that they may not like it, but it's not the end of the world and it's not a dealbreaker in a president.

Supporters rally for Donald Trump in Tampa, Florida on October 24, 2016. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

CO: Is it possible that Mr. Trump is typical of men in power — that he's just saying it out loud, as opposed to keeping it in an inner circle?

RG: I don't know. I don't even think it's about politics. A lot of women are concerned with his history of sexual assault and diminishing and demeaning women. And his corporate policies that consider a woman who's pregnant as an inconvenience. Do men talk about women and talk about women's bodies and talk about sex? Absolutely. But very few men walk around saying "grab them by the pussy." That's an aberration. And it should be an aberration. And we should be appalled by that. And we should say that perhaps we have a higher standard for the most powerful position in the United States, if not the world. You can already see the media trying to normalize Trump as someone who is part of the mainstream, when he's not.

The most dangerous person in his administration right now is [Vice President-elect] Mike Pence. Because he's a 'true believer'. Unlike Trump. - Roxane Gay

CO: There have been a number of social-media postings in recent days urging women to go and get an IUD [intrauterine device] before Mr. Trump takes office. Why is that?

RG: Women are trying to protect themselves and make sure they have some kind of birth control in place. We're at the worst-case scenario with Trump as president. We just don't know what he's going to do. What's worse than Trump is the people that he has surrounded himself with. Trump is going to get bored with the presidency very quickly — it's the people he has in place. The most dangerous person in his administration right now is [Vice President-elect] Mike Pence. He is the governor of Indiana, where I live. He is someone who diverted money from HIV prevention to trying to convert gay people. He believes in torturing gay people into heterosexuality. He believes in prosecuting women who have had miscarriages and signed into legislation that requires that women who have a miscarriage bury and have a funeral for the fetus. These are things he's done as governor. He's a horror show. Because he's a 'true believer'. Unlike Trump.

For more on this story, listen to the entire interview with Roxane Gay.