"Hillary Clinton’s older feminist supporters have a message for young women who are not backing her candidacy: Shame on you." That's what Alan Rappeport says in his article for The New York Times, "Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright Scold Young Women Backing Bernie Sanders," and that's what caught my attention.

Steinem and Albright go on to say why Secretary Clinton must become president, and how it would signal a true revolution, a true success in the feminist movement, and with that I agree. I agree that seeing a female commander-in-chief would be extraordinary and that not only would it signal a success in the women's movement, but it would also signal a change in our societal sentiments towards women. Yet, I am hesitant.

I stop myself when Clinton tries to remind "voters that her election would signal the end of a long road for women," but one woman becoming president is not the end to anything. If Hillary were to become the leader of America, that would be phenomenal, but it wouldn't magically fix everything. It wouldn't suddenly close the wage gap, it wouldn't suddenly stop violence against women, and I don't think people that want to do things, like legalize rape, would just disappear. Having a female president would not be the ultimate destination on the feminist road to equal rights instead, it would be an exit off the highway onto a parkway because there is much more to go.

When it comes to politics, when it comes to anything, an individual's gender should not dictate whether or not you support them. Just because you are a woman, that does not mean you must pledge allegiance to Secretary Clinton. Madeleine Albright said, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other!” And though that may be a good point, that does not mean that my politics (and personal life) is based on whether someone has a penis or a vagina.

I support Bernie Sanders because I support his policies. I look at his grassroots campaign and the fact that he wants to do things like tax carbon. Sanders wants to make education more affordable and he speaks out against major banks and his openness about where his campaign funds come from and the fact that he helped fight on the front lines for the Civil Rights Movement.

I look at all of this, and even more, and I just trust him. And maybe, ultimately, there's a special place in hell for people who don't help the ones they trust because they are guilted into endorsing someone else just because of something like gender.

I support Bernie Sanders, not because "I'm young and I'm thinking, where are the boys? Oh, the boys are with Bernie," (a real life statement by Gloria Steinem to Bill Maher). I support Bernie simply because I like his politics and ultimately agree with what he says, I don't care if others who support him are male or female or not even human. Supporting a candidate for persident should not be based on what other people are doing and saying. You shouldn't be peer pressured into liking Clinton, or Sanders, or Cruz, or Rubio, or any of them. Life is about forming your own opinions and standing by them, and presidential campaigns are exciting because you learn something about those individuals trying to run for office every day, which means you get to reanalyze your opinions more often.

Imagine a political campaign where there were no parties. Imagine if it was not Republican vs. Democrat, or man vs. woman, but instead policy vs. policy. That would be a true success.

So for now, I am just a feminist (someone who believes in the equal treatment of men and women) and I support Bernie Sanders.