Lately the news has been all about the presidential campaign, and this time it’s kind of exciting because of Hillary Clinton. It’s cool to see a woman running for president especially considering how strong her chances are. While it’s awesome that there is a woman running, it’s great that she can’t be reduced to just “the woman” running for president. She’s got ideas and intelligence as well as popularity for a host of other reasons. One thing that concerns me though is that many people seem to absolutely loathe her without much reason, which makes me think it is based in sexism.
Whenever I have asked people why they hate Hillary so much, they never are able to give me a definite reason. It’s always rather vague with phrases like “I just don’t like her,” “she rubs me the wrong way,” or other various nonspecific things. Those who actually give me a definite reason are most assuredly sexist. I’ve had several people, male and female, who have told me that they don’t think she should be the president, or any other woman for that matter, because if a woman were to be president the rest of the world would not respect the United States. They say it’s not in woman’s nature to be leaders (they say they aren’t sexist though because they think women can be leaders on a small scale). It’s an asinine argument. Not only have there been many female presidents and prime ministers throughout the world, there is also the basic principal behind that argument that is totally flawed. To say that a woman can’t be president because others would not respect her, gives power to that sentiment. It endorses it and perpetuates that idea.
Whether someone wants to vote Democratic or Republican doesn’t really matter, but to not vote for someone based upon their sex is a shame.
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