Make America Great Again: Close Department of Education and Put Women Back in their Place

or for women to fight it: Judge reinstates labor board member fired by President Trump

From the MAGA perspective, women have gotten "out of their place." So, if you are witnessing restrictions on abortion, the weakening of gender protections in workplaces, the election of men to high office despite credible claims and evidence of sexual harassment and abuse of power, the dismissal of women's political activism and resistance, and the rollback of hard-won gender protections, those are corrective actions. Still, understand this:

This article is not about me being sexist.

It is about exposing why mothers and grandmothers—our first teachers—are no longer accepted as credible references in shaping society's values and knowledge. Groupthink and conformity may cloud one's vision.

America being "Great" was earlier mentioned in The Great Society, a set of ambitious domestic programs launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, particularly between 1964 and 1965. It achieved notable progress in reducing poverty and expanding civil rights. Out of this effort came landmark initiatives such as the Civil Rights Act, Clean Air and Water Acts, the Food Stamp program, federal educational aid and reforms, Medicare, Medicaid, and the promotion of arts, culture, and public broadcasting, which are currently being dismantled.

It was a transformative time, but also one before Loving v. Virginia — the Supreme Court case that would strike down laws banning interracial marriage. Still, despite its achievements, the Great Society faced criticism for expanding federal power and concerns about the efficiency of some programs, for which MAGA's Musk has taken a sledgehammer.

In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan invoked nostalgia with his famous phrase, "Let's Make America Great Again." His campaign sought to restore national pride, economic prosperity, and strong leadership, reacting to a period marked by high inflation, unemployment, gas shortages, and the Iran hostage crisis.? (Not to egg you on, what is current society marked by?)

Decades later, Donald Trump revived and trademarked "Make America Great Again (MAGA)" in 2012, making it the centerpiece of his 2015 presidential campaign. But unlike Reagan’s message, Trump's MAGA carried a sharper populist and nationalist tone, implying that America had lost its greatness. What caused this "decline" is open to interpretation—whether economic, racial, or political.

However, in keeping with Women’s History Month, it's worth examining MAGA through a gendered lens, which cannot be fully separated from race.

For many MAGA supporters, the notion of America’s "greatness" seems to harken to a time before Loving, when men wore pants and women wore frocks—a time of clearly defined gender roles. Although women had abandoned corsets and long skirts for bloomers in the 1850s, those early forays into near men-like clothing were not seen as threatening to American manhood. However, by the 1960s and 1970s, when women began wearing pants more widely and pushing for equality, traditional gender roles were deeply challenged.

Trump’s MAGA vision reflected a desire to return to what some perceive as a time of economic strength and traditional values. But beneath that call was an often unspoken yearning to reinstate rigid gender roles—men as breadwinners and leaders, women as caretakers and homemakers, which the Me Too Movement threatened.

For many, especially women and gender minorities, MAGA feels like a call to return to an era of sexism, inequality, and exclusion—a time when women had few frocks (perhaps a two or three-sister), fewer rights, fewer choices, and less power.

Some critics liken the MAGA vision to a world where women are pushed "back into the kitchen"—barefoot, pregnant, and chained to the stove. In that world, girls would be steered into gender-biased schools to learn homemaking and childcare skills. In contrast, others might be permitted only as far as elementary teaching, which was considered a socially acceptable role for women. (In a time when female teachers could not be seen holding a man’s hands in public, neither get pregnant and teach, nor get married.)

This action echoes even more profound historical inequalities: in the 1800s, Black women's education was often geared toward servitude and reproduction—"chained to the cot" for breeding rather than trained for intellectual pursuits, as Black men were sometimes educated to handle the plowshare.

Thus, MAGA evokes a fight for gender equality, inclusivity, and modern rights for women and LGBTQ+ people, and another for a return to traditional roles and hierarchies. For those marginalized by the latter vision, MAGA is not merely a political slogan—it is a symbol of resistance to progress and equality.

Note. Today, the Department of Education is about to be closed. It is said the highly qualified people were kept –White conservative men--and the unqualified were fired, primarily Black women.