Does a Woman in America Put Her Life at Stake by Running for Office?

Recently, I ran across the story of Colorado State Representative Yara Zokaie. In 2025, a Republican State Representative, Ryan Armagost, took a picture of Zokaie's outfit while she was speaking in the Colorado Congress and shared it to a private chat of other Republican Colorado lawmakers. This was while they were in legislative session.

Members of the private chat likened their female colleague to a stripper and a prostitute. Then the photo was shared online. Soon Zokaie and her children were receiving death threats. Zokaie gave an impassioned and impressive speech from the floor about the incident. It's definitely worth watching, but that's not what I want to talk about here.

In 2025, in America, a state representative's life is threatened, thanks to her male colleagues, because of what she wore to work. Earlier this year, in June, Minnesota Congresswoman Melissa Hortman was killed in her home, simply because of the political issues that she backed and, let's face it, because she is a woman.

It starts at the top. If our elected leaders not only condone, but spread, misogyny, how can we expect anything different from those that they serve? Or from teenage boys, who are quicly forming values and opinions of the opposite sex? It's a shame that the misogyny in this country has become this extreme, and it's scary.

I know that I talk about misogyny peaking because of women gaining more rights, but when will things even out? I certainly don't want to be hunted down and killed in my home because of my sex and because I have differing political opinions than someone else, or have my life threatened because of what I wear.

Where do we go from here? Can we go anywhere and feel safe doing so?