Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative, said in a cover story for GQ that was released on Wednesday that being thrust into public life and making national headlines has exposed her to a hostile environment.
The flamboyant socialist poses for photographs on the steps of the US Capitol wearing a stunning black gown.
However, she makes use of the opportunity to discuss misogyny experienced by successful women of colour and to admit that she has been driving the short distance to Congress ever since a group of Trump supporters stormed the building.
She said that the animosity is so intense that she even worries about making future arrangements.
“I simultaneously have two opposing ideas in my head.” One is just the unwavering faith that everything is possible,’ said 32-year-old Ocasio-Cortez.
However, I’ve also seen firsthand how profoundly and subconsciously as well as consciously, so many people in this nation despise women thanks to my experience here.
And they despise black ladies.
“People enquire about the future,” I am told. And to be honest, I’m not even sure whether I’ll be alive in September.
And I’m very concerned about that. Not just the right wing, though. Regardless of one’s political ideology—left, right, or center—misogyny exists.
In 2018, AOC won a congressional seat. In a liberal neighbourhood of New York City, winning was all but a given, but her journey to get there made her an instant sensation.
In a primary, the former bartender defeated the incumbent Democrat.
Joe Crowley, who had wealthy backers, was thought to be the next speaker of the House, but AOC’s tenacious group of followers assured a surprise.
Once in the House, AOC teamed up with other rookies and women who shared her political views to establish “the Squad,” a group of vocal leftists.
According to GQ, she is “the cultural star whose power transcends politics” and “the political voice of a generation.”
In April, she proposed to her longtime partner Riley Roberts. But she discussed her concerns about being with a white guy and if a multiracial, multicultural relationship would be the appropriate match for her in the interview with GQ.
Then there is her quick climb. Some guys really don’t want to be with a strong, independent woman.
They start to panic out when you start being yourself, she said.
“I believe it brings out a struggle in them that they weren’t even aware of.” It isn’t even a ruse. They only discovered vulnerabilities that they were unaware of.
She also spoke about her horrific experience on January 6 of last year, when she hid in the nooks of several businesses fearing for her life.
And she gave an explanation for why, in an Instagram post about the assault on Congress, she disclosed that she had previously been sexually attacked.
Due to the fact that it was such a significant aspect of her experience, she added, “I could not speak about that day without sharing it.”
Because so much of it was about resonance and fear of something that was not theoretical but a fear of something that I had experienced, I felt like I could not really adequately describe what that experience was to people without providing them with the context of what I had gone through and what was being echoed.
She said she now prefers to drive the majority of the time rather than walk the short distance from her house to the U.S. Capitol.