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There is nothing better than women’s joy. 

To be completely transparent, the current state of our government — more specifically, the recent loss of Vice President Kamala Harris for president — has discouraged me. Pure joy is the last thing I’ve felt in the past couple of weeks, and I’ve gone through practically every emotion in the book. Each day since then has blurred into one long, continual mess of 4 p.m. sunsets and 10 p.m. bedtimes. I’ve logged nearly 20 hours on my Nintendo Switch.

This is a normal stage in processing emotions. Though I’ve been a complete couch potato, I’m a huge advocate for feeling things deeply and fully. However, because I sit with my emotions for such a long time, I tend to cross the line when it comes to rumination. I’ll rethink the same thoughts and rehash the same feelings well beyond the point of productivity.

Writing this is partly a wake-up call to myself. It’s a refresh button, a cold shower and a load of fresh laundry. But I also want this to be a celebration, a motivation and a reason to feel excited. I want to discuss something the government may be able to diminish but can never fully take away: women’s joy.

“Those very same young women will hopefully learn about this election and those in the past — elections in which strong women have gone toe-to-toe with men who do not respect them and are so clearly disgusted by happy women.”

Seeing women doing what they love fills me with an indescribable sense of pride, accomplishment and joy of my own. Regardless of whether these accomplishments are on a national, state or local scale and regardless of the publicity, there is nothing more perfect and beautiful than witnessing a woman’s success and happiness.

The amazing thing is that success cannot be contained or quantified with one specific measure. Though Kamala Harris did not “succeed” in what we’d typically define as success, she demonstrated to millions of young girls and women of color that they have a place in presidential elections and politics. That in itself is a huge success.

It still baffles me that one of the most popular insults on Harris — in the same vein as “Sleepy Joe” — was to depict her laugh as crazy. President-elect Donald Trump even explicitly said, “You can tell a lot by a laugh. She’s crazy. She’s nuts.”

To criticize policy is one thing, but to criticize a woman for outwardly being happy and expressing joy? It’s bullshit. Women have long been called “crazy” for a laundry list of dumb and misogynistic reasons, but weaponizing women’s joy to bash an opponent is a new level of disgusting. Outwardly and proudly expressing emotions should be commonplace for men and women, but unfortunately, there are steep and real consequences for showing any ounce of happiness or vulnerability, especially for women of color.

Trump does not exhibit a sliver of the resilience, humility, ambition, kindness or laughter that women as a community do. It is deeply upsetting that he, who couldn’t possibly respect women any less, will become the face of our country and represent so many young girls who will grow up fearing his policies and living with the repercussions.

Those very same young women will hopefully learn about this election and those in the past — elections in which strong women have gone toe-to-toe with men who do not respect them and are so clearly disgusted by happy women. And I hope that, if anything, that encourages them to laugh more.

Keep being passionate, and keep being joyful.

Reach Emma Souza at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @_emmasouza.