Election 2016

Election 2016

So, since I started this to be able to share my opinions without everyone on my facebook feed having to see it all, I'm going to talk about the election for a hot second.

Yes, election 2016 has been completely ridiculous in many ways.

We have a clown for the GOP nominee and a highly-qualified Democratic nominee with one major underlying issue in our society (she's a woman *gasp!*). And before you go off about how the fact that she is a woman is not why she's unpopular or whatever, don't.

Yes, 33,000 emails that were kept on a private server instead of a secure server disappeared, but millions of emails disappeared during the George W. Bush administration, and that's not the only example of misusing email. 

But please note that this is a relatively trivial matter in the big picture. Honestly, it looks a lot like the American people are grasping at straws in trying to find a real reason not to like Clinton, because no one wants to acknowledge the ugly truth. I think the real reason people don't like Clinton is because she's a woman. And people don't want to admit to that because they're afraid to admit to their own sexism. And I think this happened in 2008 with Obama, except that it was his race (see the birther scandal, which was totally ludicrous and think about the reasons people used for not wanting to elect Obama. My personal favorite was the one I heard the most: "he's too young and inexperienced." Like, what?) I think that the biggest problem in both of these elections has been that the candidates were not white men.

But that's not what I'm here about.
Because I know that Clinton is a woman and that a lot of why people don't like her is probably rooted in the sexism and patriarchal constructs that run deep in America's collective bloodstream.

Okay, well I am here to talk about sexism. But not that sexism. A different sexism. A very subtle sexism. One that most people seemingly haven't noticed.

What I'm here to talk about is the names we call our presidential candidates by:

Donald Trump, an ignorant, bigoted, sexist fool is referred to by his last name, the way that we refer to people we respect (there's a reason we call teachers and professors and doctors and whatever by Mr./Ms./Mrs./Dr./Prof. Lastname and that reason stems from respect of these individuals).

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a savvy, qualified political candidate who has dedicated decades to public service, is referred to by her first name.

I know that this seems small and trivial, and maybe it is, but generally when we stop referring to someone by their title and last name (for Clinton, this would look like Secretary Clinton, try that on for size) it is someone who we have gotten to know pretty well.

I would love to think that people are referring to Sec. Clinton by her first name because they find her personable and likable and wouldn't mind sitting down to have coffee and talk about their love life with her, but this is so clearly not true. 

Secretary Clinton is perceived as aloof and cold by a lot of people. Which isn't her fault. Because if she expressed her emotions the way that male candidates do, she would be seen as over-emotional.

Behold: the double-edged sword of being a woman who feels things in the public eye.

Which leads me back to my question: Why do people refer to Trump by his last name, but Clinton by her first, if not that they find her personable, relatable, and likable?

I also don't think it's because her husband is another important figure, because they could easily differentiate by referring to him as President (former President) Clinton and her as Secretary (former Secretary of State) Clinton and confusion really wouldn't be that much of an issue if everyone did this. (Not to mention the fact that we don't really need to be talking about Pres. Clinton right now, except to wonder what he will be called when Sec. Clinton is the new President)

I think that it's because she's a woman and people don't know how to handle a woman in this kind of position. 

It's really kind of simple: Clinton is a woman, so people don't like her. Clinton is a woman, so people don't respect her. Clinton is a woman, so people don't trust her.

All of the reasons people don't want Clinton as our next President can be traced back to her gender.

And the worst part about it?
It's so deeply embedded in our society that people don't even realize that this is it.

But, really, if a white man with the exact same credentials as Clinton were running in her place, he would have every vote. There would be no question about who our next president would be.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not Secretary Clinton's number one fan. I voted Sanders in the primary because I'm a little tired with the way the government has been run for the last 240 years, and I really believe we need someone like Sanders near the white house to effect some of those changes (not sure he's the man for the Presidency; upon further review of his credentials, I think he'd be a great VP candidate, but we can think about that during another election) and there are other candidates who I would love to see running.

But we can't keep wishing for something that we don't have. It is way, way, way too late to bring someone else into this election.

And Clinton really, truly is the most qualified candidate running this election.

(I mean, she's already spent 8 years in the White House. How many other candidates can say that??)

So you know, just think about it.

xx,

Sienna
The Fierce Feminist