Some USC students are excited about the prospect of potentially electing the first female president of the United States, but the students were clear that their vote would be based solely off of political views – not gender.
In the recent polls, Hillary Clinton has struggled to gain support from young female voters, as most support her democratic counterpart, Bernie Sanders. At Clinton rallies, several influential feminists, including Gloria Steinem, have condemned young women for not voting in favor of Clinton. Steinem believes that the younger generation of females does not understand gender inequality and believe the problem of discrimination has been solved. Some USC students do not agree with Steinem’s opinion and do not think America should vote based on gender.
“I believe there are a lot of people in this country who are just so adamant about female rights and female power that they will vote for her, just because she is female,” Daniella Mohazab said. “But also, they shouldn’t be voting for her just because she’s a female.”
Mohazab is not registered to vote, but plans to register in time for the election. In a society more progressive than ever, the current sophomore does not think it is right that the United States has not yet had a female president. However, Mohazab does not believe the gender of our president determines how well our country is run. Contrary to that belief, Phillomina Wong thinks the United States needs a female president to have a presence in world affairs.
“If you look at other countries, they’ve had female presidents already, and it makes me think that if the US really wants to be a world dominating power, why is it that we still cant have a diverse group of people running our government?” Wong said.
Wong thinks it is a very exciting prospect to be able to elect the first female president of the United States and she does think some females will vote for Clinton because of her gender. Nonetheless, Wong says she does not think anyone’s vote should be based off of gender alone. The registered democrat looks forward to voting for the first time in a presidential election.
Communication student Avery Bivinetto, a registered independent, is open about his resent for Clinton. Bivinetto said he does not trust her to run our country, and he questions her work as a whole, especially regarding the Clinton email scandal. Bivinetto does think it is important to have a female president, he just does not think Clinton is right for the role.
“I don’t think that the fact a female could potentially be president is the reason we should vote for that person, I think we should look at their policies and what not,” Bivinetto said.
The consensus of the USC students was clear; the excitement about a potential first female president was existent, but the vote for Clinton was questionable.