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It’s a little bit of good news in an otherwise bleak landscape for feminists: Donald Trump has finally paid E. Jean Carroll after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and ordered the president to pay her $5 million. After appeals and delays, that sum has accrued interest, and finally, $5.625 million was delivered to Carroll’s account.

Trump has denied Carroll’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in a department store changing room, calling it “a Hoax and a lie.” But a jury disagreed, and the courts have upheld their decision.

Carroll’s claims first emerged publicly in 2019, at the height of the #MeToo reckoning, when it truly felt like feminists were making huge strides toward recognition of—and even accountability for—sexual violence and harassment. The men felled by the movement are now well known: Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, Les Moonves, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose. Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore was accused of sexually pursuing and assaulting teenage girls when he was in his 30s; he lost his bid for an Alabama Senate seat to Doug Jones, handing Democrats their first Senate win in the state in 25 years. In 2020, Donald Trump lost his reelection bid, and Democrat Joe Biden took the White House.

Since then, much has changed.

The anti-feminist backlash has been swift, shocking, and severe. Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential........

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