Silver, Nate. "2016 Election Forecast." Fivethirtyeight. Fivethirtyeight, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Sept. 2016

Flora Florova
Metz, Robin
PREC - 145-2
30 Sept 2016
The American Double Standard
With the first presidential debate of the 2016 election, we truly come into the
official political season. The entirety of the world is tuned in to the race going on between
Democratic nominee Secretary Hillary Clinton, and Republican nominee Donald Trump,
because the results of this election will define the world order for at least the next 50 years, if
not more. The reason why this specific election is so controversial though, is not because of the
imp of the important role the next POTUS will play. No, the intellectual world is watching
because of the unreal reaction of the US populus to Trump. Throughout the past year and a half
that Trump has been campaigning, with no prior experience in politics, he has made too many
moves that would have ended entire careers in politics, least of all a presidential campaign.
Instead of falling behind though, the current election predictions give us that the probability of
either Clinton or Trump being elected is the same as getting heads or tails; its 50/50. Trump has
been steadily catching up to Clinton. On August 14th, Clinton has an expected probability of
winning of 89.2%, to Trumps 10.2%1. On September 26th, the day of the debate, Hillarys
chances were down to 54.8% and Trumps were up to 45.2%. Why is this? It is because of the
absurd double standards that the american population holds women to.
The main critiques of Clinton are of her personality and overall appearance, interactions
with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. It is terrifying that these are the only things that
drive people away from one of the most prepared people to be president that we have ever had.
1 Silver, Nate. "2016 Election Forecast." FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 28
Sept. 2016.
The issue of appearance is judged not just here in the political spectrum. In the Olympics this
year, women athletes were harshly judged not by their ability to do sports, but by their clothings,
like Mail Onlines comment about gymnast Oksana Chusovitina from Uzbekistan, and how her
leotard, "failed to complement her skin tone"2. Similarly, Clinton gets the same feedback about
her pantsuits and about her age. The comments made about her choice of red for the debate on
monday were supportive at best, and cruel at worst. The most common twitter response though,
was low key mockery.3 Clinton herself commented about the standards of women in the public
eye when asked what she was going to wear to the debate a few days prior: There's this thing
called the double standard, so I think about, what should the first woman nominee of one of our
two major parties wear to the debate?"3. There has been no word on Trumps appearance by
national media, besides the social commentary of millennials on social media mocking his hair
and comparing him and his skin color to a cheeto.
Another reason why people find Hillary Clinton to be a poor choice for president is, her
relationship with her husband. The most crude school of thought could be summed up in a
tweet, reposted by the office Donald Trump twitter, and deleted hours after the fact: If Hillary
Clinton cant satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America? 4. The
backlash that Clinton faces from her decision to stay with her husband after the exposure of the
affairs while he was in office, and the blame she faces for his infidelity is insulting not just to
her as a presidential candidate, but to all women. The fact that her personal relationships can
qualify or disqualify her for for a job or a position is something related only to the fact that she is
2 Bates, Claire. "Is Some Olympic Commentary Sexist?" BBC News. BBC, 11 Aug. 2016. Web.
28 Sept. 2016.
3 Witte, Ana Colon Erica. "Hillary Clinton's Pantsuit Was A Great Metaphor For Last Night's
Debate." Hillary Clinton Debate Red Power Suit Best Tweets. Refinery29, 27 Sept. 2016. Web.
28 Sept. 2016.
4 (mplefty67) If Hillary Clinton cant satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy
America? 16 April 2015, 5:22 PM. Tweet.
in fact a women. People say that they would like to support traditional family values and that the
Clintons do not, as a reason against voting for Hillary Clinton. This is absurdity. Donald Trump
has been married 3 times, and right now has a wife that is 24 years his younger. She is also
only 8 years older than Trumps eldest child, Ivanka Trump. Traditional family values dont seem
to apply to Trump as a candidate either, if we do want to use that reason for selecting a
president.
Overall, Americas political culture is appalling. During the course of the elections, little to
no consideration goes to the qualifications of any one candidate. I understand the idea of free
country and do what you want, but at the same time, if there was any understanding of what
actually goes on in the Presidents seat, we would not be in a position today where a person like
Donald Trump has a serious chance of being elected into the most powerful position in the
world. His blatant disrespect of the hard working people and of laws, as he admitted on national
television to not paying his taxes, make it hard to imagine for any intellectual why he could be so
popular. As was clearly stated in the debate on Monday, A man who can be taunted by a tweet
should not have his fingers anywhere near nuclear access codes.5. Well said Hillary, but for
some reason the US public cant hear you. Maybe change your outfit?
5 Clinton, Hillary and Trump, Donald. First Presidential Debate. Commission on Presidential Debates.
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, 26 September 2016.

Silver, Nate. "2016 Election Forecast." Fivethirtyeight. Fivethirtyeight, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Sept. 2016

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Flora Florova

The American Double Standard

and comparing him and his skin color to a cheeto.

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