A Feminist's Argument Against Hillary For President

If “full-body cringing” counts as “exercise,” then I got quite a workout last weekend after Madeleine Albright implied that women who won't vote for Hillary Clinton will go to hell, and Gloria Steinem sneeringly suggested that the only reason any young Democratic women might prefer Bernie Sanders over Clinton was so those women could meet boys. (Advice for young women choosing their political affiliations solely in hopes of meeting a single man: start going to libertarian meetups.)

Although I voted libertarian in the last presidential election, I'll almost certainly be voting for the Democrat (whoever it is) this time around – or, more specifically, I'll be voting against the Republican. And if voting for the Dem means voting for Hillary then I'll do so, but that doesn't mean I'll like it. Speaking strictly as a feminist: I hope Hillary Clinton does not win the title of “America's first woman president,” because I would much prefer to see that honor go to someone, left or right wing, who built her political career entirely on her own merits, rather than one whose entire political career is based on being married to a former president. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being a woman who married well; I'm just saying that rewarding a woman for doing so does not count as a feminist victory.