Welcome to 2016, where Donald Trump is a candidate for President of the United States. As if that wasn't odd enough, add that he's threatening to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, he's constantly contradicting himself, and (as of just recently) he's basically admitted to sexual assault.
I thought that was the last thing he could do to make me mad. I strongly believed we had hit rock bottom and we could just move quietly past this episode of political history I'm watching. Then the hashtag #RepealThe19th was trending on Thursday. I'm sorry, come again? This is absolute insanity. This is just some of the reasoning behind my hatred for the #RepealThe19th movement.
1. Women fought so hard for this right
Women were not given rights; we fought for them. And they will not be given away; we will fight to keep them. #Repealthe19th
— Casey (@pari_passu) October 13, 2016
Women were beaten, arrested, and harassed for pursuing the right to vote. They fought for years to even earn the right to act like every white man in America could for decades at that time. And the majority of women couldn't vote until later in the 1960s, thanks to people discriminating against voters of different races.
2. We even out the general electorate
Women make up about 50% of the population in the US. Removing us from the vote completely ruins the idea of representing the entire United States. If you're interested in not showing exactly what the U.S. wants in a president, then repealing the 19th amendment makes sense. However, as our nation is becoming more and more democratic, it seems that more people would like everyone participating in the vote. And in case you think that women vote less often then men, the U.S. Census data says otherwise.
3. It's discriminatory
Why on earth do you think that it's okay to repeal an entire people group's right to vote just because we don't agree with you? Isn't that precisely what we fought against in the first place? That is the whole reason we got upset in the Revoluationary War - we weren't being represented in Parliament so we fought for representation. We were overlooked then, much to Abigail Adams distaste, but we will not continue to be overlooked.
4. It's taking a step backwards
In the late 1700s and most of the 1800s, women (and minorities along with them) weren't viewed as people. They were viewed as property. Women got passed along when they were married and they were generally just viewed as something to own. I'm not okay with being treated like that again. Nor do I think it's funny to joke about being treated like that. I'm not something to be grabbed, mistreated, or used against my will. I'm a woman, not a thing.
5. This is my first election, and people are threatening to take my vote
I wasn't old enough to vote in 2012. It's frustrating enough that this election is so weird thanks to Donald Trump's appearance, but talking about taking away a right I've yet to even exercise? How rude. I want to actually have a chance to make a difference and even if it isn't a whole lot, at least I know I've done my duty as a citizen of the U.S.
Repealing the 19th amendment is not acceptable. It's not an option, nor is it reasonable for anyone in the US. You cannot take away my right to vote simply to get your way. That's not how this works, and it won't be. Mary Poppins thought so too - that's why they sang about it. And don't you worry. All the women will be out to vote on November 8th - whether you like it or not.
