Women’s Rights: Important Enough to Sway Voters?
I am not much of a politico. I always follow the rule that religion and politics are the two topics you should stay away from when talking with people, especially when alcohol is involved. What someone believes in shouldn’t determine whether or not you can be friends with that person. As Americans, we should be tolerant and accept people’s differences – be friends with someone based off who they are, in the realm of friendship, not what they are, in the realm of politics.
That being noted, I did watch both the Republican National Convention (RNC) and the Democratic National Convention (DNC). The reason is simple, I want to be informed. When we’re young we make quick, rash decisions based off emotion or peer-pressure, but as we mature we become more rational. We realize how the impact of our decision has a domino effect. Our families, our jobs, our way of life, all play a factor. We read articles, watch the news, ask questions, use every available resource to gather all possible information and then, when we feel that we acquired all the data needed, we make an informed decision that we won’t regret in the morning. Among the important topics surrounding this election, including, the national debt, job creation, tax reform, and immigration, there was one other important social issue discussed: women’s rights.
Ever since women won the right to vote in 1920, they have statistically voted more in national elections than men have. For the first time in history the women’s vote has a real opportunity to help decide this election and although the economy and job creation are important to all Americans, where a party stands on women’s rights could be the deciding factor for winning the woman vote. If women voters are on the fence about who they should vote for, this issue could be the one to help them make that informed decision come November because it is a decision that can have a domino effect on proceeding generations that could either stall the progress we have made or bring us closer to the ideal of an equal America.
Women have a choice this election to vote for a party who wants to pass a law that would make it illegal to have an abortion, including in the case of rape, incest, and even if the mother’s life is in danger. A party who wants to strip away our right to birth control, de-fund Plan Parenthood, take away access to important healthcare benefits like monograms, but subject us to invasive sonograms. A party who has members that called Sandra Fluke a “slut” because she wanted to speak to an all-male committee about birth control for undergraduates at Georgetown. Or we can choose to have a choice. A choice when it comes to healthcare. A choice to fight for equal pay. A choice to decide what is best for oneself.
Any party that has to say at their convention, “I love women,” repeatedly, clearly doesn’t understand what is important to our generation of women. A simple “I love you” may have worked on previous generations of women who are nostalgic for those ideal 1950s days, however, that gesture will not work on modern, everyday 21st century women who want more from life. They want to be CEOs, Doctors, Teachers, Engineers, Policy Changers, and yes, maybe even President one day. They want their voices to be heard and their opinions to matter. They want to create an even better tomorrow than their predecessors did. This generation of women can see right through that cheesy “I love you” as nothing more than a last minute political effort to show us that they care. But it could be too little too late; this generation of women may have found another party that doesn’t have to say “I love you” repeatedly, but shows it by allowing us to choose.
Below is Sandra Fluke’s speech given at the DNC – this is a must watch:
