Growing up I was never told that because I’m a woman, I have to be a liberal. It’s possible that I never saw a negative correlation with being a conservative woman because the fourth wave feminism didn’t come about until I was a freshman in college. My high school was fairly liberal, but not enough that I was tormented for being a conservative.
College was a little different. Going into my freshman year of college was the 2008 election, and because I was voting Republican that year, I was called horrible things. I was questioned many times as to “why I hated my own sex,” or “how could you be a part of a party that’s all old white men?” I’d answer with, “I don’t decide my vote on my gender. What I believe is what I believe, even if I don’t fit into the ‘status quo.’” I now live in one of the most liberal cities in America and have been the most vocal about my politics ever— and I’m not stopping anytime soon.