There is no doubt that we are at a political deficit when you have to truly question the integrity of a presidential candidate. However, with Trump so well ingrained into the race, it is essential to evaluate our Republican nominee. As of June, 36% of women voted in favor of the Trump campaign while 21% claimed to have no opinion. As a female, I was profoundly shocked at these statistics. Watching “The Celebrity Apprentice” when it was on air and closely following the lunacy of the Trump campaign, I am invariably baffled when, quite frankly, anyone supports Trump, but especially women.

Deviating from his normal tendency to change his perspective depending on his audience, Trump has reliably remained stagnant on his belief of the inferiority of women. Time and time again, Trump’s sexualization of women attests to his inability to lead America in the 21st century. He’s virtually two centuries behind on gender inequality issues. One of his communicative niches is degrading women on their credentials for their job, claiming they only received it at the price of their aesthetics. In a 1991 interview with Esquire, Trump stated, “you know, it doesn’t really matter what [the media] writes as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.” Moreover, in a segment about pageants, Trump shared with his female interviewer, “I mean, we could say politically correct that look doesn’t matter, but the look obviously matters. Like you wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful.”

Clearly his sexism dates back far before his political days, however, lucky for us, that witting charm has not been absent in his press for presidency. On April 16th of 2015 Trump unbecomingly tweeted, “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?” Yet the savagery seems to fade when we acknowledge that the unprofessional blow at Hillary is more accurately a blow at his own campaign. Unwarranted animosity will not make American great again. As if the shallow social media degradation was not enough, Trump goes on to say, “Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she’s a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?” Yes, we are. But really, Donald, come on. Are you serious?

Evidently the feminist spark inside me, the spark that should be sheltered within us all, explains my outright anger at demeaning and sexist comments. However, sexism extends far past the elements of prejudice and stereotyping to the discrimination on the basis of sex. At a 2015 Problem Solver Convention in New Hampshire, Trump addressed his outright respect for women. Unsatisfied by his through-your-teeth lies, an audience member inquired, “I want to get paid the same as a man, and I think you understand that. So if you become President, will a woman make the same as a man and will I get to choose what I do with my body?” Trump’s articulate response: “You’re gonna make the same if you do as good a job. And I happen to be pro-life. Okay? I’m pro-life.” As good a job. So basically the performance scale is ranked one to men. As long as women preform the job as their male counterpart would, they’re golden. Seems fair, right? As far as the pro-life/pro-choice debate, a woman has a right to make the decisions on behalf of her body, as simple as that. The conservative, religious values that challenge pro-choice are as outdated as flip phones. The mere bullshit of it all is the undeniable hypocrisy of the fact that after disclosing his respect for women he turned around, rashly dismissing the question of a woman herself.

There are a million political and moral reasons why Donald Trump should not even be on a presidential ballot, but for the straightforward entity of the feminist movement, do not allow our country to backtrack.