My Presidential Election Anxiety As A Canadian Woman

I woke up this morning with some major anxiety.
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I woke up this morning with some major anxiety.

When I went to bed last night in my home, in Canada, I thought to myself, tomorrow a woman will be elected to rule the free world. It means a lot to see a badass lady like Hillary Clinton fight through all the bullshit sexism of the patriarchy and come out even stronger. It's a sign of hope for young and old women everywhere that we too can do whatever we want regardless of gender. And although I am not an American citizen, these elections have a large impact on the world, particularly Canada, because we have such close ties to what happens to our Southern neighbours. This is an election heard around the world. And just as it was eight years ago, I would love for progress to prevail and for history to be made yet again.

But I still woke up this morning an anxious mess. That little part of my mind went into "What if?" mode. What if Donald Trump is elected? Just typing that makes me feel sick.

trump clinton

Throughout this whole election process, there have been a lot of problems coming out of the USA about equality, Black Lives, and gun control, among other things. It sometimes feels like things are going backwards. And to elect that insane, sexist, racist, dictator-like candidate would not only take America back a huge step, it would undo so much of the pain and suffering so many minority groups have gone through in the name of progress.

I don't pretend to know what some of these people have gone through to protect their basic human rights, but I have been on the receiving end of sexism, and it hurts. Not just in that moment, but for the rest of your life. The fact that there are people who do not believe in equality and in turn are using the Donald Trump platform to express hate makes me so incredibly sad. Is this the future we want? Is this the "What if?" scenario we want to see

Not only would a Donald Trump presidency undo our hard work towards equality, but the repercussions of his loud mouth and inexperience would echo around the world. Ties would be cut and relationships would be fractured. Will Canada remain as close a friend to a country with a bigoted idiot leading them? I would certainly hope not, because that is not what my Canada stands for. And what happens when the giant baby throws a tantrum because other countries won't "make deals" with him? What happens when he can't just say, "You're fired."

When I woke up this morning I thought, "What if?" and I have spent the day trying to tell myself that goodness will prevail. That through all the hateful spew, people will vote for what they know is right for their countrymen and women, not just themselves. I'm trying to ignore the anxiety and believe, "What if Hillary wins?"

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