Lauren Duca Knows The Secret To Surviving Trump | GOOD 5/29/17, 5:39 PM

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FEATURE TRUMP Lauren Duca Knows The Secret To Surviving Trump “That’s the pattern, treating politics like the Olympics— something to only follow every four years. This time we might not have the luxury.” by Jesse Hirsch

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AS AN OUTSPOKEN WOMAN ON THE INTERNET, Lauren Duca was no stranger to ugly words from strangers. But around Christmastime, she noticed a troubling uptick in rape and death threats. After a battlesomebattlesomebattlesomebattlesome appearance appearanceappearanceappearance on ’s show two days prior (an exchange so fraught that a Fox staffer told her he’d battlesome appearance quit after working on it), she found herself fielding an appalling flood of online poison: Memes of Carlson sodomizing her. Explicit threats to her safety.

“ I thought In response, Duca spent her holiday “followingfollowingfollowingfollowing the thethethe Thumper ThumperThumperThumper rule rulerulerule” maybe we could (Remember Bambi? “If you can’t say something nice…”), civilly emailing her following the Thumper rule open some harassers to ask why they’d be so vicious to someone they have never met. “I Girls Running My students need caps to wear to dialogue. Then I thought maybe we could open some dialogue,” she says. “Then I got responses like, shield themselves from the heat when they are competing outside. got responses ‘Get raped, c*nt,’ and I thought: ‘Ok. Well. I guess not.’” Ms. Lee like, ‘Get raped.’ ” Bret Harte Elementary School •… Modesto, CA " After the Carlson interview, Duca even caught the attention of “pharma-bropharma-bropharma-bropharma-bro” $773.92 STILL NEEDED , the man who endeared himself to monsters everywhere by jacking pharma-bro Give up prices on a life-saving HIV drug. He tried to engage her in a faux courtship so aggressive that he was ultimatelyultimatelyultimatelyultimately suspended suspendedsuspendedsuspended from fromfromfrom Twitter TwitterTwitterTwitter.

ultimately suspended from Twitter

Lauren Duca Follow @laurenduca

I would rather eat my own organs 8:08 AM - 5 Jan 2017 18,722 72,627

Kim Dawson Follow @thekimdawson

The sad thing is, that Martin Shkreli's harassment of Lauren Duca is something that happens every day to so many people. 8:09 AM - 9 Jan 2017 1 5

But if you’re familiar with Duca, it’s most likely because of her ferocious essay “DonaldDonaldDonaldDonald Trump TrumpTrumpTrump Is IsIsIs Gaslighting GaslightingGaslightingGaslighting America AmericaAmericaAmerica,” which clocked millions of views when Teen Vogue published it a month after the election. The self-described “scorched Is Gaslighting America earth op-ed” offered a take that many Americans craved: namely, that our President-elect was playing dangerous games with the truth, and we’re all his victims. The result, argued Duca, has been a collective maddening, the sense that our grasp on objective reality may not be so sound. “Trump is not going to stop playing with the burner until America realizes that the temperature is too high,” she wrote. “It’s on every single one of us to stop pretending it’s always been so hot in here.”

Duca may have energized a troll army, but her urgent, elegant prose also earned her a legion of admirers. Her TwitterTwitterTwitterTwitter following followingfollowingfollowing stands at over 150,000—a mix of liberal celebs and media insiders like Sarah Silverman and Dan Rather, concerned citizens, Twitter following and young women who look to her for clarity and inspiration.

It’s a lot to shoulder for a 25-year-old journalist from Queens, just a few years out of school. In a perfect world, Duca says she’d still be writing funky,funky,funky,funky, low-stakes low-stakeslow-stakeslow-stakes profilesprofilesprofilesprofiles and griping about her vinyasa class schedules. But these postelection times funky, low-stakes are nothing if not extraordinary. Personal destinies are reshaped in a blink. After profiles November 8, Duca was “no longer interested in any of the things (she) wanted to write about before.” Without passion, creativity deflates. And Duca had no plans to deflate.

“This is something I take very, very seriously,” she says. “I’m having all sorts of “Do something. (Twitter) DM conversations now, and not just with the peoplepeoplepeoplepeople who whowhowho have havehavehave blue blueblueblue Angry energy checkcheckcheckcheck marks marksmarksmarks. I try to empower people with information on a one-to-one level. It with nowhere to people who have blue may not change the world, but it can be cumulatively significant.” go often turns check marks into despair. ” Duca sees it as her responsibility to help rebuild trust in a hobbledhobbledhobbledhobbled media mediamediamedia. Deriding " much of the post-election coverage as “sloppy and irresponsible,” she feels well- hobbled media positioned to speak out about some of the most pressing issues of our time— feminism, media literacy, street activism, and resistance to Trump’s America.

To that last item, Duca is full of fiery counsel. She knows the easy path for many could be hopelessness and retreat. “Fucking do something,” she implores. “Angry energy with nowhere to go often turns into despair.” The day after the election, when millions of Americans were nursing their wounds, Duca says she was concocting a personal game plan: She wrote up a book proposal focused on the cultural factors that got us here today (her gaslighting piece is one of the chapters).

She never imagined how deeply the essay would resonate, though it owes some of its prominence to pundits who couldn’t believe such intellectual rigor could come from a fashion magazine for teens. Prior to “Gaslighting,” Teen Vogue’s previous top post was “How To Apply Glitter Nail Polish The Right Way.”

katie zhu @ktzhu 10 Dec teen vogue continues to kill it. good things happen when black women are in charge & let young women find their voice, write their beliefs.

katie zhu Follow @ktzhu

this is not surprising. so before you act "shocked" that @TeenVogue is doing good work, take a minute to recognize how demeaning that is. 3:42 PM - 10 Dec 2016 2 26

But for those paying attention, magazinesmagazinesmagazinesmagazines for forforfor young youngyoungyoung women womenwomenwomen have long been perfectly capable of publishing smart political commentary, and Teen Vogue’s magazines for young women editorial choices have been particularly incisive since hiring editoreditoreditoreditor in ininin chief chiefchiefchief Elaine Welteroth last May. editor in chief Duca is happy she helped bring more attention to such a worthy media outlet, and admits she has been enlivened by all the praise she’s received. Still, when her parents called the election “the best thing that could have happened” to her career, Duca flared up. "Are you kidding me? This is horrible. The absolute worst possible thing that could happen to the world. To look at it advantageously is just bizarre." Plus, she’d be lying if she said the online nastiness hasn’t rattled her. “Just the sheer magnitude—it’s a lot,” she says.

Duca expressed some textured feelings in a follow-upfollow-upfollow-upfollow-up post postpostpost last week, a sardonic love letter addressed to her trolls. Her frustration is clear; why should she—or follow-up post anyone, really—be forced to contend with such nightmarish vitriol? “I’m a warrior goddess who can weather the worst of the misogynistic treasure trove,” she writes. “I’m also human.”

In many ways, Shkreli and the trolls have steeled Duca’s resolve—to fight and write and create work that matters. In addition to her book proposal, she’s heading to Los Angeles soon for discussions with as-yet-undisclosed TV networks. But what about our nation, which as of Friday morning has officially sworn in its gaslighter in chief?

“I try to empower people with information on a one-to-one level. It may not change the world, but it can be cumulatively significant. ” "

Duca’s outlook is measured. She resists being labeled as “hopeful,” but also steers clear of assuming the worst. What she knows for certain is what she sees, and that is a massive cross section of citizens united in opposition to Trump. Duca mentions the “cicadacicadacicadacicada effect effecteffecteffect” in American politics.

“That’s the pattern,cicada treating effect politics like the Olympics—something to only follow every four years. This time we might not have the luxury to go dormant.” It’s great that we’re energized, but we won’t triumph if we retreat into complacency until 2020. Instead, we must “be driven by each new awful thing, letting our continual agitation do the work for us.” She pauses. “Is that a bright side?”

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