Friday, November 4, 2016

Trump's Female Supporters or Hilary's Lack Of?

With all the hatred and sexist comments expelled towards women by presidential candidate Donald Trump, it is hard to believe that he would have any female supporters at all. Trump’s first wife accused him of rape although she later recanted. He blamed tough questions by news anchor Megyn Kelly on “menstruation”, and is constantly involved in new sexual harassment scandals. But regardless of these serious and hurtful situations, there are many Trump supporters who are women. Women who whole-heartedly support Trump. With this support for Trump most likely always comes the disapproval of other presidential candidate, Hilary Clinton. How can women in this day and age, vote against a candidate of their own gender would who so much to support women? Clinton’s official website explains how she would work to close the pay gap, fight for paid leave, increase minimum wage, confront violence against women as well as proudly stand with Planned Parenthood. Scrolling through Trump’s campaign website, there is nothing about women’s issues or what he plans to do about them. He focuses on everything other than that issues, which is a severely important one.

This controversy on how female voters refuse to support a female candidate, may stem from the fact that Clinton is not the typical female that America is used to. America’s idealized view of a woman is that she be physically attractive, have “warm and fuzzy” qualities, and be charming and lady like. Clinton does not exude warmth, she isn’t the most charming or charismatic women either. But she has strength to speak her mind and what she plans to do with this country, and backs it up with plans and facts. She may not appeal to every woman out there, or even every man, but she will do what is necessary for the greater good of the female population of the United States while Trump continues to bash and ridicule them.

4 comments:

  1. Thumb Elina -

    I don't know if you drive down the same stretch of rte 9 that I do, but for this past week I am have seen these two women (young, maybe 30s) holding signs for Donald Trump. I couldn't believe it. Also many of the more vocal Trump supporters I have seen in my immediate area have been women...which certainly creates an interesting paradox which you highlight really well.

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  2. You raise some interesting points. I'm not sure I agree with Clinton 100%, but, on a personal note, I wholeheartedly agree with you that she should not have to be the 'typical' woman to run for office and be effective.

    Being a politician and public speaker does require a certain amount of charisma though. One has to wonder: At what point does Clinton's lack of je ne sais quoi become a barrier to her rallying the populace and government to make ALL the policy changes she's promised the country?

    Some Trump women are actually voting for him because they believe in something he stands for. While I may not agree with them, I have to respect their right to an opinion and that people prioritize issues differently. Also, women can internalize patriarchal values to a surprising degree.

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  3. "How can women in this day and age, vote against a candidate of their own gender would who so much to support women?"

    For starters, they are not practicing identity politics by voting for a candidate just because she's a woman. While not a woman (and not a Trump supporter) my reading leads me to believe that they do not share your (and Clinton's) vision of what is necessary for the greater good -- of all Americans, not just women.

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  4. Hi,

    I think you raise some good points. But, I would argue that women are not a monolithic voting block that votes according to gender or other identity characteristics. In fact, I would argue that the fact that women in this country do not vote strictly on the basis of gender is a tremendous mark of equality and advancement for women and men, as many millions of men voted for Mrs. Clinton.

    I think another problem for Clinton is the fact that she is seen by so many folks as an almost Machiavellian figure who operates in a real-politik environment of secrecy and ruthless ambition.

    She was severely damaged by the email controversy as well as FBI intervention in and out of the campaign. Mrs. Clinton did very little to actively, deliberately embark on a militaristically focused campaign to change public perceptions that she is dishonest, slippery and an entrenched elite.

    She instead remained convinced that Trump would do himself in vis-a-vis the entire nation. In some ways, Clinton's attitude seems to have been close to the idea of "There is no way they will vote for this guy," but they did.

    But, the bottom line seems to be that the United States and its people have advanced considerably in the last 70 or so years, and one cannot count on identity votes in the 21st century. In fact, one can barely count on what would appear to be voting according to one's self interest--primarily because determining what constitutes the self interest of another will not often be discovered so easily as by identity.

    I guess people, at the end of the day, are very complex.

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