Anyone keeping up with the 2016 presidential election knows it’s a crazy time. As if Donald Trump alone wasn’t enough (terrifying) entertainment to keep you settled until the election in November, we have a wonderfully meme-ified ensemble of candidates, both Democratic and Republican. For instance, as tumblr user “y-uranus” puts it:
(In case you’re not hip to the memes, CoolGrandpa is referring to Bernie Sanders, Unhip Lady is referring to Hillary Clinton, Racist Piece of Corn (my personal favorite) is Donald Trump and Serial Killer is in reference to the notorious “Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer” joke circulating the web).
As entertaining as these memes are, the American people must remember that this election decides who is running our country for the next four years. When you look at some of the candidates, that is absolutely terrifying (looking at you, Trump). Now, I identify myself as a feminist. A feminist, by definition, is a person who advocates for "social, political, legal and economic rights for women equal to those of men.” So, of course, when looking at my potential future president, I’m going to pay close attention to their stances on women’s rights. This includes their views on things like abortion, birth control, and equal pay. The results, unfortunately, weren’t all that shocking.
Let’s start with Republican John Kasich:
In 2015, Kasich voted to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization notorious for providing access to a number of women’s health necessities and conveniences, including cancer screenings, birth control and contraceptives, and, in some locations, safe abortions. In 1999, he put out a statement saying that he is is pro-life except in the case of rape and incest. He also openly opposes federal funding for abortion clinics.
Additionally, he has also made several degrading comments toward women during his public speeches and rallies. These comments include statements about “women leaving the kitchen,” undermining a young woman’s questions by claiming he “didn’t have Taylor Swift concert tickets” and asking a woman about her diet.
Finally, I’ll leave you with this direct quote from Kasich regarding equal pay: “Well, a lot of it is based on experience,” Kasich said. “A lot of different factors go into it. It’s all tied up in skills. Do you not have the skills to be able to compete?” To me, this implies that women, in his opinion, are not “experienced” enough in the workforce to be treated equally in their pay for their equal work efforts.
Let’s see how Democrat Hillary Clinton measures up:
As the only female candidate since Carly Fiorina dropped out of the race, I was excited to research Clinton's views on women's rights, although there really wasn't any surprise. Clinton has been pro-choice since the 1970s, and vehemently argues that government has no business making the choice for a woman. Since the 1990s, Clinton has advocated for reasonable measures to prevent abortions, including reaching out to teenagers for better sexual education. She also advocates for a better adoption system to prevent more abortions in the future. Clinton did not support the defunding of Planned Parenthood and has promised to fight Republicans on this issue.
Clinton supports equal pay for equal work, as well as paid family leave and affordable childcare. Additionally, Clinton plans to "confront violence against women" by reducing domestic violence statistics (however it is unclear how she plans to go about this).
Back to the far right, we have Republican candidate Ted Cruz:
Cruz also contributed to the shutting down of Planned Parenthood in 2015 and openly opposes a woman’s right to seek an abortion. He has said in an interview with Megyn Kelly,
“When it comes to rape, rape is a horrific crime against the humanity of a person and needs to be punished and punished severely, but at the same time, as horrible as that crime is, I don’t believe it’s the child’s fault.”
In other words, Cruz believes a woman who has suffered the traumatic event of rape should suffer even more trauma by carrying the child of her rapist to term. Cruz also opposes a woman’s right to birth control and contraceptives.
As far as pay equality goes, Cruz has always been “spotty.” “While he didn’t cast a vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act in April 2014, he has said in the past the issue is 'political showboating' and eventually voted with his party to block the bill later that year.”
Back on the left, there's Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders:
Sanders has always been pro-choice (which, to clarify, does not necessarily mean “pro-abortion”). His website states that Sanders intends to make sure that “We are not going back to the days when women had to risk their lives to end an unwanted pregnancy. The decision about abortion must remain a decision for the woman and her doctor to make, not the government.” He also supports the funding of Planned Parenthood and access to birth control and contraceptives to women.
Additionally, Sanders is alongside Clinton as being one of the only candidates to have openly spoken about the issues of domestic violence, stating that as President he will ensure that these victims receive the support they need.
Regarding equal pay, Sanders’ website states that “We are not going back to the days when it was legal for women to be paid less for doing the same work as men. It is wrong that women working full-time only earn 79-cents for every dollar a man earns. We have got to move forward and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act into law.”
And finally, we have Republican front-runner Donald Trump:
Trump on the topic of women’s issues appears to flip back and forth, spoken like a true politician. In 2015, when asked his opinions on Planned Parenthood, he said that although millions have benefited from the program, it should still be defunded. Years ago, well before the decision to run for president crossed his mind, Trump was pro-choice. Now, in 2016 however, he has declared himself pro-life, stating that “I have evolved on abortion issue, like Reagan evolved”. Recently, he has even stated that "The answer [to stopping abortion] is that there has to be some form of punishment."
Trump is also notorious for his misogynistic comments about women, specifically his menstrual jokes about reporter Megyn Kelly, and his issue with Rosie O’Donnell in which he has repeatedly called her a “fat pig” among other names.
