By Samantha McKenzie

Fact # 1. I don’t like Donald Trump. I could have started this out a different way, but I didn’t. It was necessary.

Fact #2. My dislike for him has nothing to do with his bid for the presidency. The presidential campaign was just a bigger platform for him to expose his brand of ugly. He has the right to run for president and I respect this freedom.

Fact #3. His consistent derogatory remarks against women boils my blood. Not because I take any of his words personal, but because it reminds me that I have to live in a world with such ignorance and hate. And that we, America, raised him.

It’s hard to ignore his special type of disrespect. I go to sleep at night trying to dismiss the obnoxious comments he’s made in the past, only to wake up to yet another offensive remark flashing across my newsfeed. I’ve been through the slums of the inner city, met more than a handful of questionable characters, but never, ever have I heard a man speak about women the way he does. If riches were the standard bearer for class…but they’re not.

Donald has become the face of misogyny and he’s done it to himself. Singlehandedly.

I recently stumbled upon this article, “12 Ways to Spot a Misognyist” in Psychology Today, published in Feb. 2015. It quickly caught my attention, because it reminded me of him.

Take a look at the traits of a misogynist:

1. He will zero in on a woman and choose her as his target. Her natural defenses may be down because he’s flirtatious, exciting, fun, and charismatic at first.
2. As time goes on, he begins to reveal a Jekyll & Hyde personality. He may change quickly from irresistible to rude, and from rude back to irresistible.
3. He will make promises to women and often fail to keep them. With men, on the other hand, he will almost always keep his word.
4. He will be late for appointments and dates with women, but be quite punctual with men.
5. His behavior toward women in general is grandiose, cocky, controlling, and self-centered.
6. He is extremely competitive, especially with women. If a woman does better than him socially or professionally, he feels terrible. If a man does better, he may have mixed feelings about it but he is able to look at the situation objectively.
7. He will unknowingly treat women differently from men in workplace and social settings, allowing men various liberties for which he will criticize female colleagues or friends.
8. He will be prepared (unconsciously) to use anything within his power to make women feel miserable. He may demand sex or withhold sex in his relationships, make jokes about women or put them down in public, “borrow” their ideas in professional contexts without giving them credit, or borrow money from them without paying them back.
9. On a date, he will treat a woman the opposite of how she prefers. If she is an old-style lady who prefers a “gentleman” who holds the door for her, orders for both and pays for the meal, he will treat her like one of his male buddies, order for himself, and let her pay for the whole meal if she offers (and sometimes even if she doesn’t). If she is a more independent type who prefers to order her own meal and pay for herself, he will rudely order for both and pay the check while she goes to the bathroom.
10. Sexually, he likes to control women and gives little or no attention to their sexual pleasure. Foreplay, if it occurs at all, is only a necessary means to an end. He likes oral sex but only as a recipient. His favorite positions enable him to avoid looking the woman in her eyes.
11. He will cheat on women he is dating or in a relationship with. Monogamy is the last thing he feels he owes a woman.
12. He may suddenly disappear from a relationship without ending it, but may come back three months later with an explanation designed to lure the woman back in.

This is what we’ve been experiencing. Fact or fiction?

Fact #4. Each citizen, over the age of 18, has the freedom to vote for whomever.

Fact #5. I am voting against misogyny.