In a long list of things that have made me question the collective IQ of the United States, the one that has stuck out the most was a trending topic on Twitter recently.
#RepealThe19th trended on Twitter last week after a graphic was released showing if women did not vote in the upcoming election, Donald Trump would win.
Naturally, Trump supporters concluded that this means women no longer deserve the right to vote.
For those of you readers who do not know, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution is the amendment that gave women the right to vote in 1920.
It’s quite shocking to think that it hasn’t even been 100 years since women were granted the right to vote.
It’s appalling to think that a group of people want to take that vote away just to make sure their preferred presidential nominee can win.
Nate Silver released the graphic showing how the election would go if only women voted and if only men voted. The graphic involving only women showed Hillary Clinton winning by a landslide. She would have 458 electoral votes versus Trump only receiving 80.
The graph involving only men showed Trump winning, but not by a large margin like the other. Trump would win with 350 electoral votes and Clinton would have 188.
I think that rather than demanding that women get their right to vote taken away, Trump supporters should wonder what it is about his policies that make women not want to vote for him.
It is important to take into account that these graphics were created just days after the infamous offensive comments that Trump made in 2005 were leaked to the media.
However, this is not the first time the female vote was the decider in an election.
In 2012, more women voted for current president Barack Obama. Fifty-three percent of voters in that election were women.
Women are gaining more and more elected positions, so it is very important to include the treatment and betterment of women’s rights in policies.
When a presidential nominee does not plan on helping a large contingent of the population, there is something wrong with that nominee’s policies.
Even before the most heinous of comments were made, women still leaned towards Clinton by 24 percent.
The divide was not as prevalent, but it was still an obvious choice among women.Trump’s policies have never been conscious of women’s rights.
Last week was not the first time #RepealThe19th circulated Twitter. It was originally coined by alt-right groups seeking to offend and mock women.
The hashtag has since then been hijacked by women defending their right to vote and calling out men who are intimidated by the power women have in politics.
Honestly, I wasn’t too surprised by half of the tweets I saw in the trend.
At this point, not even women defending the trending hashtag really shocked me.
It’s deplorable, like many women on Twitter said, and I just hope those who truly believe women do not deserve the right to vote eventually learn some sense.
mmbarbac@indiana.edu
