I’m a millennial woman. I come from a long line of strong females, including my mother and her mother before her. I was that kid in elementary school that wanted to be the first female President of the United States. And although seeing a third grader trying to comprehend world politics is cute and even a little humorous, no one ever told me no. I was raised with one mentality: if you work hard and are kind to others, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish. Eighteen years later, and I still wholeheartedly believe in the idea that achieving your dreams is something all people should strive for. As a feminist, I believe in self-empowerment. Self-love starts from within because, in order for love to be genuine, you have to love yourself first. That’s also why I believe in the women’s rights movement. I idolize women like Amal Clooney, Oprah, and Beyonce because not only do they demonstrate a great deal of strength, a big part of what makes them great role models for young women is their sense of independence.

There’s no denying that women’s rights movements have made an extreme amount of progress in the last century. One hundred years ago women couldn’t even vote legally. But there is still more progress to be made. In a recent study, it was shown that women are paid 16 percent less than men for doing the same work, and for black and Latino women, the rate is even higher. Although women account for 51 percent of the United Sates’s population, they make up just 20 percent of U.S. Congress. Women are still the minority, not only in the government but in the business and media world, too. As women, we need to ban together. We can’t let statistics and men destroy out potential. We deserve people in our lives that uplift us and inspire us to be the best version of ourselves.

I am a bright young college student who works hard to achieve her goals. Not only as a feminist but as a person, I am deeply offended by the way male political figures speak of and treat women. In a recent interview, Vladimir Putin said: “I am not a woman, so I don’t have bad days”. Not only is that a ridiculous claim, but it’s an extremely belittling statement about women. I am tired of reading about sexist men who are world leaders. Yes, I am talking about Donald Trump. Who could forget the video where Donald Trump claims he scores women by “grabbing them by the pussy”. It baffles me that women can watch that whole video, where Donald says extremely crude and graphic things about women, and still choose to support him. I will never understand why some people let others belittle them in such a way like this. Women deserve better. We all deserve better than a President that objectives one gender into objects, not people. I believe in treating people like human beings, I just wish our President could do the same.