Election Outcomes

I have a confession… I am a female college-educated millennial… and I voted for Trump. Actually, this isn’t a confession at all. If asked, I would tell anyone I was voting for Trump. And after this election I just might even say I’m a feminist.

I might be a feminist because I chose to not vote for a female just because she was female. I voted based on my understanding of the candidate’s platform and policies. I voted based on my understanding of the economy and the world around me. I voted based on what I thought our country needed, which was not the first female president but economic development and counter-terrorism initiatives.

When I see the photos of the young girls crying because Clinton wasn’t elected, I feel pity. I feel that way because those girls are in an age demographic that does not remember 9/11 and they do not understand why people feel that terrorism is a serious threat. They have been told by the liberal media that global warming is a serious threat. Those girls are crying because they feel as though the have been shorted by the American people, that they are the true feminists who are trying to inspire change and no one hears them.

I hear you. I hear you and I’ll raise you this… I am the feminist now.

Feminism originated at a time when women were so very limited in not just their opportunities, but also in being able to speak up and make changes. The feminists of the 19th century would be celebrating where we are at today, the progress that has been made. They were fighting for equality at a time when women were really not considered equals. They were fighting for the opportunity to be considered equal, and that is something we do have today. I do not need permission to go to work, I exercised my right to vote on Tuesday, and I was given the same educational opportunities as males. The feminists of today are stuck in the past. They may argue that women make less than men, but they don’t look past the numbers to get the full context (I could go on about this…). Women, if you want to be treated as equals you need to stop expecting to be treated as superior, and you need to stop putting women down who think differently than you.

Being a feminist to me is being a catalyst for positive change, having wisdom and influence without manipulation. It’s being able to hold men and women of equal regard, and accepting each other’s limitations. It’s making informed decisions without taking gender into consideration.

Voting for Hillary Clinton because she is female and it would break the glass ceiling is not a heroic act of feminism. Breaking the glass ceiling just for the sake of breaking it is not progress. Feminist progress is when I can vote for a female based on her qualifications and not her gender. I would never want to be hired for a position based on the fact that I am a female, but rather because I am the most qualified person for the position. What the OG Feminists were advocating for was not to be given opportunities because they were women, but to be given opportunities, and I would challenge anyone who laments the current state of feminism and it’s impending doom. Feminism isn’t dead, it’s just growing up and going to work.

So I ask you this, are you ready for a new feminism? Are you ready to really see women as educated equals who are willing to elect a man because he is more qualified for the position?