Deepest fears: murder / laughter

Enraged machete-wielding man demands his right to drive onto a street blocked by demonstrators in Burlington, VT. Woman in NYC.

There is a saying that what women fear most about men is that men will kill them; what men fear most about women is that women will laugh at them.

Simplistic as it is, that aphorism may explain quite a lot about the Republicans’ reaction to Kamala Harris’s joyful laugh. And specifically Trump’s take on it:

And here’s the take of Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale :

“Why do men feel threatened by women?” I asked a male friend of mine..., “men are bigger, most of the time, they can run faster, strangle better, and they have on the average a lot more money and power.” “They’re afraid women will laugh at them,” he said. “Undercut their world view.” Then I asked some women students in a quickie poetry seminar I was giving, “Why do women feel threatened by men?” “They’re afraid of being killed,” they said.