Unless you’re a bigot, Hillary Clinton is the only real choice for president

With this Presidential Election being the first of which many college students are finally able to vote in, I must say it has left many of us less than excited for our country’s future. Throughout this election, many of us have been left with the desire not to vote. Many have found both candidates to be appalling and simply unfit for presidency. However, considering we now have no other options, our final decision must come down to which candidate, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, reflects the lesser of two evils.

Now, after everything that Donald Trump has said during the last eighteen months of his candidacy, a lot of us still hesitated with calling ourselves “Hillary supporters.” Her insincere, self-righteous and lying nature has kept us from jumping on the pro-Hillary bandwagon. However, after the enlightening development that has been uncovered over this past week regarding Donald’s history in sexual harassment and assault, as well as his continued views and comments on women, most of us have finally boarded the Hillary train. The women of this nation, and others who are in support of the respect and safety of women and all peoples have finally come together, and in good conscious cannot let a man who believes in the degradation and exploitation of women, become our President.

The release of Donald Trump’s recording this past week in which he openly boasts about his sexual harassment and assault “conquests,” has again proved that he is without a doubt unfit for Presidency. In these recordings Trump stated, “Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” Not only is this a grossly offensive and demeaning, but it is more than a comment – he’s telling men to go out and do this. He is encouraging these acts by saying that men can get away with such behavior, and is essentially giving them the green light to assault women.

Donald has since apologized for what was said in the recording, explaining that it was just “locker-room” talk – as if there wasn’t already enough excuses for his repeated profanity. These excuses for his repeated misconduct is the exact reason why he should not be President. “Locker-room” talk and “boys will be boys” are excuses that society makes in order to excuse the despicable and disgusting actions of men, regarding their treatment of women. This is the kind of behavior that simply cannot run our country, nor do we want it to. We do not want a world leader who is going to condone sexual harassment and assault. What we need is a leader who is for the rights of women and the respect, safety, and security of all the American people. And in no human right has it ever been acceptable for a man to grab a woman’s pussy, or grab a woman’s anything, without her consent, and then use the cop-out excuse that just because he is a man he “can do anything.” Thus, the ‘Locker-room talk’ excuse is not a valid explanation for abusive, offensive, and violent behavior, and is by no means an excuse that can be used by our country’s future leader.

This realization is important for all the women of this nation, but especially to the young college women of this nation who are voting for the first time this year. We are living in a highly sexually driven environment, surrounded by some young men who may have the same morals and opinions about women as Donald Trump. For any man who has put their hands on us, forced themselves on us, cat-called us, treated us with disrespect, made us the unwanted attention of their sexual desires, and/or has made us incredibly intimidated and uncomfortable, this is our time to stand up and take a stand. In this past year we have seen many powerful men of this country denounce the seriousness of sexual assault. We have seen them use their power to make us women feel like what we have to say, the truth that we have to tell, is inconsequential up against a man’s. And that is not okay. We may not be able to take the power away from all of these men, but we can stop this particular one from gaining more power than he already has. We need a leader who is going to understand what we as women go through, someone who is going to understand that we are perceived as sexual objects, and understand that we do not want this anymore. We need someone who is with us. Not someone who wants to get a leg over us.

So with all that said, Hillary still might not be your first choice, and you still might not even want to vote – but you should. It is unfortunate that we have to choose a President who is the lesser of two evils instead of choosing a President who we wholeheartedly believe deserves to run this nation, but these are the cards that we have been dealt. As American citizens, as women, as human beings, we must make the choice to vote for someone who is going to have our back and promote a safe and respectful nation. We cannot elect a President who will give all men the green light to touch us however, wherever, and whenever they see fit. Take a stand for the respect and safety of women all over this country and elect a President who might be incredibly flawed, but is for the women of this nation. She will stand up in our fight against sexual harassment and assault, so we should stand up and vote for her. A vote for her, is a vote for us.