Justice

Madonna Stands up for Rosie O'Donnell on Twitter

September 28th 2016

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's got a blast from the past at Monday's debate, when Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton brought up his years of sexist comments aimed at women including actress Rosie O'Donnell — which Trump proceeded to awkwardly defend on stage. The following day, Madonna addressed the exchange — and Trump's defense of his bullying — in a heartfelt tweet in solidarity with her friend and "A League of Their Own" cast-mate.

As ugly as Trumps words about the former host of "The View" were — “disgusting,” “fat, ugly,” and “a woman out of control" just to cite a few — Madonna used the debacle to make an important point about how women deal with sexism and adversity.

donald-trumpAP/Gerald Herbert - apimages.com

The pop star's tweet illustrates the significance of women banding together in the face of bullying, body-shaming, and other iterations of the still all-too-widespread misogynistic attitude towards women.

Women have been banding together to fight against inequality and abusive speech since long before the internet age — and even the Women's Rights Movement in America — but social media has put female solidarity at the forefront of pop culture.

Numerous female celebrities — and some male ones — used Twitter and Instagram to voice support for Kesha amidst hearings over sexual assault allegations against her former producer. (The lawsuit was subsequently dropped.)

Women have also used online platforms like Tumblr to share how they protect one another from harassment and violence in public spaces.

Though Trump's years attacking O'Donnell have since become relatively widely known, the actual root of the feud has often remained unclear to casual observers.

Trump's grudge is thought to have taken hold after a segment on "The View," in which O'Donnell harshly criticized Trump's treatment of another woman, a young Miss-USA winner, Jezebel reports.

O'Donnell slammed Trump for giving a press conference shaming a young Miss-USA winner about her drug and alcohol use. This illustrates yet another instance in which a female public figure spoke out for a fellow woman in solidarity.

Women have also developed tactics to unite against subtler forms of gender inequality.

As ATTN: has reported previously, female Obama staffers would repeat points made by fellow female staffers during meetings and give them credit to draw attention to their points and prevent men from taking credit for their ideas.

Though, of course, it would be nice if women didn't need to create these tricks, coin clever feminist hashtags, or wait for a celebrity to fire off a viral tweet in order to be heard.

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