I’m A Feminist. Here’s Why I Support Bernie Sanders Over The Female Candidates.

I identify as a feminist, and I emphatically support Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign over Hillary Clinton’s and (for too many reasons) Carly Fiorina’s. There’s nothing about Hillary Clinton’s current platform that I take any serious issue with, and I appreciate the evolution of her stances on issues like gay marriage. But ultimately, to me, there is no real substitute for Bernie’s consistency. Naturally, I’m also aware that being a good person alone doesn’t necessarily equate an effective presidency: historically, there are too many examples of this. But promoting quality is both moral and economically beneficial to the majority of Americans.

This summer, civil rights activists rightly challenged Bernie to go beyond touting his participation and leadership in desegregation protests in the 1960s (which incidentally resulted in an arrest.) And yet essays and op-eds he has written over the past decades, long before his entrance into even local politics, reflect his genuine views and passions which I share as a feminist. His stances have certainly not always been as popular as they are now, but this serves as proof that equality has always been a higher priority to him than political advancement.

As a feminist, I trust his outlook on issues that are important to me, like abortion rights, funding Planned Parenthood, the gender and racial wage gaps, paid family leave, racial justice, LGBT rights, and economic equity, because he has the track record beyond crucial senate votes to back up his words. With a progressive platform that, with some small exceptions (reinstating Glass-Steagall, marijuana legalization, the death penalty, and taxing the upper-middle class, to name a few) is close to identical to Clinton’s, this makes all the difference.

Still, ingrained racism, misogyny, homophobia, and other forms of intolerance can’t necessarily be eliminated through electing a feminist president, or even through instating certain policies. But constantly representing and raising awareness about issues like police brutality, discrimination, and access to health care, as Bernie does, and expressing a strong willingness to enforce measures toward equality through executive action, as he also does, are crucial first steps. An even more crucial step is economic enfranchisement, which Sanders arguably offers greater opportunities for than either female candidate in the race. As not only a feminist but an intersectional feminist, this appeals to me for obvious reasons.

Opening up free public higher education, establishing a national health care system, and instating a $15 minimum wage are all exclusively campaign promises of the Vermont Senator. It’s often argued that this platform is utopian, but in short, you shouldn’t be so quick to underestimate what raising taxes on the wealthy, corporations, and the upper-middle class, or legalizing and taxing marijuana andcutting military spending, could fund. It’s also worth noting that Sanders’ platform includes increasing taxes on the upper-middle class, while Clinton’s opposition to raising taxes on the middle-class, and her platform’s definition of “middle-class,” will result in no increase in taxation for America’s wealthiest 5 percent. This should call into question how she would fund some of her more ambitious progressive policies.

There are obvious reasons why empowering Americans of all economic classes and demographics with equal opportunities to contribute to the economy, through equal access to public higher education and a fairer minimum wage, will benefit everyone. And there are even more obvious reasons why this should matter to feminists.

I don’t want to give a lesson in economics, or history, for that matter, and I highly doubt you want to receive either of these. But historically, the uneven distribution of wealth and inability of most Americans to participate as consumers without relying on credit, were leading factors in the Great Depression, which hurt Americans of all economic classes. And speaking of the Great Depression, the regulations on Wall Street banking practices implemented by Glass-Steagall contributed to alleviating the disastrous economic situation of the time, and currently, Sanders champions reinstating the Act while Clinton does not.

Ultimately, when it comes to selecting a presidential candidate to support as a feminist, Bernie Sanders put it best in an interview with the Washington Post in which he discussed other factors we should consider beyond a candidate’s gender:

I do understand there is a desire on the part of many women, perfectly understandable, to see a woman being elected president. And we all want to see that. We want to see women hold more political offices. But I also would hope that, in these enormously difficult times, where it is absolutely imperative that we stand up to the billionaire class, bring our people together, to fight for a progressive agenda, that all people — women — look at that candidate who has the record to do that.

As feminists, we know how important representation, and being represented by a progressive woman, is. But we shouldn’t close our minds to what a male candidate like Sanders is offering Americans of all backgrounds, identities, and economic classes with his progressive platform built on decades-old sincerity.