At this point, all of America has witnessed self-proclaimed feminists proudly claim they are voting for Hillary because “she is a woman” at some point during this year’s election process. You may take pride in your stance to support Hillary on the basis of her gender due to your belief that you are furthering women empowerment in America through your vote. However, I’m here to tell you that you are in fact doing the opposite. In doing this, you are painting a negative image for yourself rather than a powerful one, and here’s why.
First off, if you claim you’re voting for Hillary because you find Trump to be degrading to women then its time you start doing unbiased research, because BOTH candidates have had instances of disrespecting women in their past. By making this claim you appear nothing more than uneducated, and it’s time to shift the focus of this election to more important issues. While you may believe gender issues are one of the most important issues going on in our country right now, they definitely aren’t. You have far more rights than women in many other countries throughout the world, and you should be appreciative of that rather than complain about things you believe to be lacking. Not only this, but you continue to present yourself as uneducated if the primary reason you can provide for your choice in vote is based on a candidate’s gender. If you’re going to vote for Hillary, then your reasons for doing so should be rooted in values and beliefs you share with her regarding important issues, not in the fact that you share a gender. You appear nothing other than uninformed on the candidate’s stances if you can’t back up your decision to vote for Hillary with anything other than gender related issues.
Along with presenting yourself as uneducated, you’re appearing hypocritical as well. Why is it you cling to the offensive pieces of Trump's past but refuse to acknowledge Hillary's? If you claim to be fighting for “gender equality,” then immediately preferring a candidate because they are female completely negates the idea of “equality.” If someone were to tell you they were voting for Trump because he was a man you would be quick to attack them; however, you expect to be supported in your stance of voting for Hillary because she is a woman? Voting for Hillary because she is a woman doesn’t promote gender equality in any way, it in fact is promoting the opposite. If you were truly supporting equality, you wouldn’t take candidate gender into account and would instead evaluate the candidates based on their stances on issues that actually matter.
Finally, if you believe you need a female president in order to feel “empowered,” you need to put things into perspective. The gender of the president is not relevant to your rights. You can educate yourself, make a life for yourself, and find success regardless of whether or not the president elected is male or female. This election has been messy enough, and you choosing a candidate based solely on gender issues does nothing more than make it even more of a joke. So take the time to evaluate each candidate based on their stances on issues that actually matter and don’t just choose who you’ll cast your vote for based on who you think best supports your gender, because there’s far more important issues at hand. If after doing this you still feel the desire to vote for Hillary I can’t stop you, but at least make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Because after all, even if having a female president isn't necessary, the first one should at least be worthy of the honor.
