When you need to relax, do you guys ever watch YouTube videos as self-soothing exercise? I do that a lot with tennis videos, but lately I’ve been doing it with Megan Rapinoe videos. Megan Rapinoe comforts me on a profound level. First off, her voice is lovely – the perfect blend of raspy-to-light, a California accent but not a total Valley Girl. She has an animated face but she’s not over-the-top or actress-y. When she speaks, you can hear her education, but she also speaks plainly and without any pretension. I love her, so maybe I’m biased, but I could listen to her speak for hours. And even when I can’t hear her, I enjoy reading her words. Rapinoe is everywhere these days because she became a massive celebrity over the course of the Women’s World Cup. She’d been politically active before, and she had spoken her mind before that too, but now everyone is listening. So, Rapinoe has an interview with the New York Times and I just enjoyed these quotes so much (via Jezebel):

Why “I’m not going to the f–king White House” resonated: “Rather than being a regular white girl in the 1 percent, I have a totally different perspective on things and it’s the basis for all the activism that I do.”

When Trump tweeted about how she should only speak when she won: “‘Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Win it.’ I know, dude. Thanks, Trump. Thanks for the support.”

Whether she felt extra pressure to win after Trump’s tantrum: “Not really. I don’t think that there could be any more pressure. The reasons that we want to win are so deep and dynamic and layered. I mean, we sued the federation before going into the World Cup. We realize how much winning matters. We could have not won and come back and still helped grow the game, but we understand that if we win, everything changes. That was the more unifying pressure.

Whether she would ever sit down with Trump & change his mind: “I’m not going to be naïve and think that I’m going to sit down with Trump and he’s going to change his mind. There are children locked up at the border who are dying, and that’s not fazing him. So why would I faze him?

Why women’s soccer doesn’t get the resources: “I’m at a loss for why there’s not more investment. The national team is wildly popular, making tons of money, growing exponentially, so do you have an idea other than sexism as to why people aren’t investing in women’s sports in a huge way right now?…So is the answer just sexism? Unless I’m not thinking of something. I don’t think it’s a supercomplex issue. There’s plenty of money being invested all over the place in men’s sports, so until somebody tells me something that makes more sense, sexism is what we’re left with.

What does the women’s national soccer league really need? “What do you think the league needs?” What do you mean what does it need? We need to get out in the community more? No. We need to tweet about it more? No. It drives me nuts when people ask, “What do we need?” A billion dollars! So we can do things properly. Not like idiots, which is what we end up doing.

[From Jezebel]

“There are children locked up at the border who are dying, and that’s not fazing him. So why would I faze him?” THIS. Exactly this. And not for nothing, but that goes for all of the people supporting Trump right now too. They’re not Trump supporters because of the g–damn economy, they’re not Trump supporters because of “lower taxes.” They’re supporting him because he’s cruel, because he’s ignorant and hateful and racist and they are too. That’s why Rapinoe’s words should be the same for Trump supporters: if their minds have not been changed already, there’s no way you’re going to change their minds. So don’t bother. Do your work, do your activism, vote, be a good citizen, and don’t even bother pretending that Trump and his people aren’t f–king Nazis.

Also: I love everything else she says too, clearly. Give women a billion dollars so they can do it right!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Backgrid.