I am an extremely passionate person, particularly when it comes to two issues -- feminism and liberalism. To be honest, I truly am rather outspoken regarding both. The result is a common assumption by many that as a feminist liberal, I’m rooting for Hillary Clinton to become our first female president. However, this assumption is quite mistaken. In fact, this has become an extremely apparent trend among millennial females. Secretary Clinton has made a strong effort to base her campaign on appealing to feminists nationwide and yet, like me, most have no interest. Yes, we want to see a woman in the White House. Just maybe not this woman.

My stance on this issue has been met multiple times with great backlash. If I’m such a feminist, why am I abandoning my fellow female? Don’t I care about breaking the glass ceiling?? How can I possibly support another male candidate??? Simply put, Secretary Clinton doesn’t “wow” me. And I am not alone. My opinion has been echoed by feminists around the country. Feminists everywhere are saying "Just because I am a feminist does not mean that I should support a candidate simply due to their sex, or due to the fact that she is also a self-proclaimed feminist. Blindly following a woman just because she is a woman is not feminism. However, what does make this election a feminist milestone is the fact that a female has the equal opportunity to run for office as her male counterparts. That is what I support. The notion that a woman, even though I don’t support her, has the same chance at winning than my favored male candidate."

While Hillary has built much of her current campaign on the basis of appealing to millennial feminists, they simply aren’t following her. In fact, during the recent Iowa caucus, women ages 29 and younger voted for Bernie Sanders against Hillary Clinton at a stunning six to one ratio. There are numerous variables contributing to this massive divide. Many think the most prominent factor may be Clinton’s inconsistent stances on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Alexis Isabel Moncada, a teen activist from Florida who founded the popular website Feminist Culture in March 2015 (the website has 126,000 followers on Twitter), has expressed her concern on such issues. “I feel like she’s trying to appeal to young women and liberals but it doesn’t seem like she genuinely cares about the issues she says she cares about,” Moncada said, noting Clinton’s various flip-flops on gay marriage. “She changes her ideals a lot.”

Another factor of great concern among the female community is the common opinion that Hillary represents mainstream white feminism. As a woman of color (her mother is Lebanese and her father is Mexican), Deva Cats-Baril wants a female president who recognizes that women are not oppressed equally. “I think the whole pro-Hillary camp of feminism creepily mirrors the larger problems facing feminism today,” she proclaimed. “It’s all about uplifting and forgiving white women, and entitlement when it comes to positions of power. There’s this sense of, ‘We’ll get a white woman in the White House and we’ll stand up for you,’ but I don’t believe it. White women get their rights first. Hillary’s not going to change anything for me. I don’t see her progressing feminism or equality.” Cats-Baril also referenced a recent interview with Lena Dunham in which Dunham inquired what, as president, Clinton would do to mend “terrible fracture in race relations.” Hillary’s response was, to many, all but satisfying. Clinton proposed solutions like overhauling police training programs, demilitarizing police, and improving community-police dialogue. She also stressed that “most deaths in low-income communities, communities of color, are not due to police...They have to respect the police, and the police have to respect the community.” “The construction of whiteness rolls off her tongue,” said Cats-Baril. “It’s the politically correct version of saying ‘you people.’ And I feel like Hillary separates herself from people of color in her language all the time.”

Yet, not all feminists are quite ready to give up on Secretary Clinton. She still stands strong among feminists closer to her own age. Many blame the media’s portrayal of her fall among millennials. Writer, Courtney Enlow, who is infuriated by her generation’s abandonment of Clinton, suggested that Clinton was being held to a double standard. Sanders is allowed to loudly denounce what he describes as corporate malfeasance while she needs to avoid sounding angry, Enlow wrote, adding that if the former secretary of State said some of the things Sanders has, she would find “Fox News ... burying her alive in tampons and crucifixes.”

While the specific opinions on Hillary’s brand of feminism are greatly varied, one thing is certain: the fact that a female candidate is neck and neck with her male opponent is nothing short of monumental.