For some reason, many (not all) people are either unable or unwilling to see the sexism being directed at Hillary Clinton this primary season. I know I’ve been going on about this, but I thought I’d give it one more try. But, this time I’m going to go about it differently. I’m going to provide a list, for those having difficulty avoiding sexism, of legitimate reasons not to vote for Clinton.
- If you are against women controlling their own reproductive freedom and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. You probably want a Republican.
- If you are anti-immigration, either because of wage depression or xenophobia, and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. All of the other candidates are better for you.
- If you believe that the gun industry (or any industry) should be protected by Congress from civil litigation and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. Again, all of the other candidates are better for you.
- If you are against universal pre-K, and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. You’re going to want a Republican in this election.
- If you are for massive amounts of debt for public colleges and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. The Republicans are better for you on this.
- If you want to keep tax rates as low or lower than they are now and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. The Republican candidates are much more likely to keep tax rates down.
- If you are against free trade agreements and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. All of the other candidates are against free trade.
- If you are against the Affordable Care Act, either because government should stay out of healthcare or because it doesn’t go far enough and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. The Republicans will help if you want government out of healthcare and Sanders is your man if idealism is that important.
- If you are a pacifist and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders or a third party candidate will be your best bet for pacifism.
- If you are against trying to mitigate the effects of global warming and this is an important or decisive issue for you, then don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. The Republicans have this covered.
Obviously, this is not a complete list. I just want to point out the important features of this list. First, it sticks to actual issues and positions of the candidates. Second, at no point does it assume that Clinton is nothing more than an extension of her husband. Whatever you think of her, she is her own person with her own ideas and agency. Third, it doesn’t play into any pre-existing stereotypes. Let’s face it, when people try to make issues out of Clinton’s work, looks, decisiveness, income and shrillness (among other things) they are playing into those stereotypes. I know this will raise hackles, but there is nothing you can say about Clinton in these areas that doesn’t also apply to all of the other candidates in this, and any other, election cycle. Even Bernie Sanders is rich (certainly by my standards, and most regular people’s standards), has excepted compensation from institutions most people despise (The House of Representatives and Senate), fails to look presidential, yells a lot and has voted for things in the past (like the Crime Bill) that he now feels differently about. Finally, I avoided talk of Clinton’s personality altogether. This isn’t an election to decide who we’d like to hang out with. And, I’d really like to think that people’s decision to not vote for Trump or Cruz or Sanders has nothing to do with their personalities because it shouldn’t. The decision should be based solely on the issues.
And, just as a reminder, I know this list isn’t for everyone. Many people have already made up their minds for non-sexist reasons. Also, this shouldn’t be taken as advocating a vote for Clinton. It is just to aid those of you who don’t want to vote for Clinton, but are struggling to find a non-sexist way to do that because I’m really sick of trying to navigate through the truly abhorrent mass of sexism every morning as I try to read the news. I hope this helps.
