Elizabeth Warren Knows "Nasty" Women Are Powerful

Elizabeth Warren, the firebrand progressive Democratic senator from Massachusetts, made a powerful statement at a Hillary Clinton rally in New Hampshire on Oct. 24. Warren actually agreed with Donald Trump, she explained. But Trump is confused about the real threat that "nasty women" pose in this election, and Warren was there to make sure he knows how powerful these "nasty" women are in this election.

"Women have had it with guys like you," Warren said as Clinton, seated behind her, smiled broadly and applauded. "And nasty women have really had it with guys like you. ... Get this Donald: Nasty women are tough, nasty women are smart, and nasty women vote. And on Nov. 8, we nasty women are gonna march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever."

By redefining the insult Trump used in the final presidential debate to describe Clinton, Warren piggy-backed on a growing trend of women proudly proclaiming themselves "nasty," which is quickly becoming a euphemism for powerful and effective.

While Trump was far from the first power-hungry man to use the word "nasty" to insult and denigrate women, Warren offered an alternate definition of what makes a woman "nasty." The word is code for powerful, she suggested. It's code for strong, for take-no-nonsense, and, as the Clinton campaign's cleverly branded website proclaims, "Nasty Women Get Shit Done."

Warren went further, though, suggesting that women like her, Clinton, and the women on stage at the rally (including New Hampshire's Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is hoping to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte) are "nasty" through and through. It's not just their words that are "nasty," she implied. It's their dogged determination to get things done, even in the face of unprecedented obstacles (or a heretofore-unbroken glass ceiling).

These women aren't just "nasty" because they fight for what they believe in — everything about them is "nasty," from their feet to their votes to their voices. But what Trump sees as nastiness is really resilience, Warren implied. "Nasty women" are relentless. And in that sense, yes, Trump and all proud misogynists in the country should be afraid of "nasty women."

Although she saved her most savage salvos for Trump, Warren clearly indicated that the candidate's behavior and rhetoric belies a real problem in how many American men view, talk about, and treat women:

Donald Trump aggressively disrespects more than half the human beings in this country. He thinks that because he has money, that he can call women fat pigs and bimbos. He thinks because he is a celebrity that he can rate women's bodies from one to 10. He thinks that because he has a mouth full of Tic-Tacs, he can force himself on any women within groping distance.

Given that women account for more than half of eligible American voters, it's no surprise that the campaign hoping to place the first female president in the White House is tapping into that historic identity. U.S. News and World Report recently declared that women could decide the 2016 election. And when Trump admits that he's losing women voters, who can blame the Clinton campaign for swooping in to clean up the hemorrhage of support that Trump himself initiated?

As CNN commentator (and unapologetic "pussy" speaker) Ana Navarro pointed out, Clinton's most effective surrogates in the final weeks of the campaign are all women. After hearing Warren speak, it feels safe to bet that these female surrogates all squarely fall into the Trump's category of "nasty women," and that's something to be proud of — and for Trump to fear.

Images: Caroline Wurtzel/Bustle (1)