I am a woman. I am a conservative. I am proud to be both, although I am told that I should not be proud to be the R word—Republican. During the 2016 election, I held proud independently formed views and I did not follow to trend of millennials becoming liberal in college. I was told that I wasn’t a real woman because I did not support a female candidate. But as a young woman, didn’t women in history fight for us to have the right to vote? Women of the past pushed for independence in voting, and I think that we still deserve the right to choose whom to vote, but maybe that is just my crazy conservative thought.
I have been threatened because I am a conservative. While the election in 2016 was a scary time for many people, I think we all need to realize that nobody can agree one hundred percent with a candidate’s platform. I know that I agreed on certain opinions of most of the candidates, but I also know that I disagreed with many ideas of most of the candidates as well. Maybe I voted in the election, and maybe I didn’t, but nobody cared who I voted for and just assumed that I was a racist and a sexist because I am a conservative.
I am a college student and I am a conservative. I sit in class and have professors tell me to vote Democrat if we care about our profession. I care deeply for my future profession in the healthcare field and I care deeply for those in need of healthcare. Which is why I promote privatization of healthcare instead of subpar public healthcare. While most professors tend to lean towards leftist ideals, it is hard for students to sit in class knowing that their professors would think less of them if the professors were aware of their political beliefs.
I am an avid volunteer and I am a conservative. For some reason I have found that there is a stigma around political parties, of which, people believe conservatives are selfish and stingy with their time and money while people who identify as democrats are selfless and giving. Not only to I spend my time volunteering at local institutions instead of having an on-campus job, but I also volunteer for multiple roles on campus. I love giving back to the community, which is why I want to work in the healthcare system and help people. It’s hard when people make assumptions about me just because of my political affiliation.
I want peace in the world, and I am a conservative. I see the daily news and I am sad. I hate seeing hate crimes and mass shootings in the news, but it is the current reality. I wonder why people think that conservatives enjoy seeing this in the news while liberals want to make a change. I want the world to be kinder and safer, and we need to find a way to achieve this. I think that many people who identify as liberal or conservative share this sentiment, but people have their own ideas of how we should go about this change. I think that if more people from both sides could see this common end goal, the political climate would be more open to conversation between parties.
I want to be proud of who I am, but I am a conservative. The world makes it so hard to be proud of yourself if you consider yourself a supporter of the GOP. I am proud of myself for my independent thought and the research I have done in politics. Hopefully soon we will all be able to have our belief systems be recognized and praised instead of shunned. Hopefully my family and friends who said they will not talk to people after the election find it in their hearts to love others and reconnect.
XOXO,
A proud conservative woman