As we find ourselves in the midst of a controversial presidential election, I’ve been paying close attention to the speeches, social media posts, and television appearances of both nominees. Something I’ve noticed time and time again is the sexist rhetoric that the Trump campaign so obviously promotes and embraces.

It’s no secret that Trump has a particular affinity for insulting women, as he has spewed insults that include: "dog," "unsexiest woman alive," "bimbo," "fat," "disgusting," "mentally sick woman, a bully, a dummy and, above all, a loser."

While Trump’s history of discrimination is old news, what is especially interesting to me is the response that his sexism has garnered.

I’ve read countless Twitter responses to some of Trump’s tweets targeting women, and many of them are along the lines of: “Would you say those things to your daughter/mother/sister?” or “Is that how you would treat your daughter/mother/sister?”

Although I understand the good intentions behind remarks such as these, I also believe they aren’t said with much thought, because this type of comment is basically insinuating that women aren’t worthy of respect unless they are imagined to be someone related to you.

In her reaction to the responses following the release of a video featuring men reading sexist, violent, and derogatory tweets directed at two female sports reporters, Danielle Campoamor, wrote:

A woman shouldn't need to be someone’s wife, mom, or sister to be treated with decency and respect. Telling men that they should view women through a familial lens in order to be kind to them is essentially saying, "if a woman doesn't give you pleasure-- in any way, whatsoever-- she is worthy of your violence and hatred and harassment." [...] Men shouldn't be horrible and cruel to women they don't know any more than they should to the women they know and care about. A woman who isn’t connected or related to you in any way is still a human being. Establishing empathy and compassion for a woman shouldn't depend on what she is in relation to you. This devalues the reality of every woman’s humanity.

I understand that rebutting derogatory, hateful or sexist comments with the phrase "would you say that to your mother/daughter/sister?" is meant to lend a more personal perspective on the women receiving insults, but at the same time, isn't she entitled to respect simply because she's a person? Why do we have to imagine her as a daughter or a mother in order to gain compassion for her?

Yes, I am someone's daughter and someone's sister. But that's not what makes me worthy of compassion, protection, and respect. I am worthy of those things because I am a person.

This is the reason why I get annoyed when I hear people say "I'm not voting for Trump because I have daughters, and have you seen the way he treats women?!"

You shouldn't get enraged by sexist behavior just because you have a significant woman in your life. You should get angry because ALL women are worthy of respect, decency, and humanization simply because they are people, just the same as anyone else.

So, when I read Trump's tweets and see him attacking Rosie O'Donnell, or Megyn Kelly, or Elizabeth Warren, or Hillary Clinton with low brow, sexist, demeaning, derogatory language, I'm not going to defend them because they are someone's loved one. I'm going to defend them because they are human beings worthy of respect and decency, and it's time that everyone, including Trump, realizes that NOBODY should feel entitled to spew hateful remarks about another person.