Elizabeth Warren seems to hold back a smirk.

Conservative Pushback Against Elizabeth Warren’s Story of Pregnancy Discrimination Is Inspiring Others to Come Forward

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In a totally unsurprising turn of events, a lot of conservatives are choosing not to believe Elizabeth Warren’s story about being fired from a teaching job because she was pregnant. A right-wing news site called the Washington Free Beacon released claims that Warren resigned on her own, showing minutes from a 1971 board meeting saying they wanted to extend Warren an offer for another year at the school, but that she resigned. Naturally, the right-wing media has run with this (despite the claims being full of holes) because they love to find new ways to try and claim women and Democrats are liars.

Warren has stood by her story on Twitter and in interviews, and has called out how pregnancy discrimination continues in subtle and not-so-subtle ways to this day.

Others on Twitter spoke about pregnancy discrimination and how it affected them, sharing their stories in solidarity with Warren and to draw attention to a form of misogyny that still affects people to this day, despite it ostensibly being outlawed.

These stories are so important to share, even if they’re deeply upsetting. Pregnancy discrimination still affects who is able to get jobs and is something that men are rarely asked about during the interview process (which, perhaps, is part of why they don’t believe it actually happens). Women deserve better than this treatment, period. There’s no excuse for discriminating against women based on their relationship status, their desire to become a parent, or if they are already pregnant.

It’s also distressing that Warren is being painted as a liar for this when this is something that still happens. This is a form of gaslighting, as it calls into question Warren’s recollection of events. As one of the above tweets says, do you really think they’d leave a paper trail of pregnancy discrimination? Once more we see women are not being believed as they express their stories of societal misogyny.

The constant gaslighting women face when they share their stories is deeply frustrating and all too common. I’m glad, however, that Warren is holding fast to her story and that she’s encouraging others to share their stories as well. Change happens when we come together, so maybe more women speaking out will lead to meaningful change.

(image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Image of Kate Gardner
Kate Gardner
Kate (they/them) says sorry a lot for someone who is not sorry about the amount of strongly held opinions they have. Raised on a steady diet of The West Wing and classic film, they are now a cosplayer who will fight you over issues of inclusion in media while also writing coffee shop AU fanfic for their favorite rare pairs.