“I didn’t know she was that smart.”
“He definitely deserved this more than her.”
On March 20, 2024, Hopkins regular decision admissions came out. I went to a fairly competitive high school where everyone strives to be the best in almost every possible aspect. Whether it was athletics, clubs or test scores, everything was a race to first place. When my guidance counselor suggested that I apply to Hopkins, I laughed. I’m usually a pretty optimistic person, but, with Hopkins’s having a 8% acceptance rate and my being at a school of dozens of overqualified people, I knew I needed to keep my feet down on earth and be realistic. Nonetheless, I figured there was no harm in at least trying. As I opened my email and clicked on the link to my portal, my phone blew up with confetti. I froze. The guys behind me whispered, as if they were trying to wrap their heads around how I could possibly be more qualified than the person who cheated on nearly every test.
Like I said, I am usually a pretty optimistic person. When President Joe Biden announced that he would step down from the presidential race in July and Kamala Harris was formally chosen as Democratic nominee, I thought to myself, “This is it; we might finally have a female president.” I don’t remember the 2016 election very well as I was only ten years old, but I do remember the morning I found out the results. I walked downstairs, and my dad was facing the television displaying the projected winner of the election: Donald Trump. He was disappointed. I didn’t understand. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote; therefore, more people clearly wanted her, so why didn’t she win?
As young girls, we are taught that we can do anything that a man can do. We are strong, powerful forces of nature, so to speak. We are shown inspirational images from 20th-century women’s rights movements and taught about women’s pivotal accomplishments throughout history. The idea was that we, as a society, would only continue to move forward. As Kamala Harris would say throughout her campaign, “We are not going back.” In the battle between someone who has worked in all three branches of government versus someone who was found guilty on 34 felony counts, committed acts of sexual assault and has an overall disdain for minority groups, I thought the U.S. would make the correct choice. I had hoped.
As I opened my phone to check the election results the morning of Nov. 6, I felt my stomach drop. We reached the part of the rollercoaster where the car stops and begins to go through the ride again but backwards. I began to scroll through social media posts and saw classmates from my high school reposting Trump’s “victory,“ people celebrating, people crying. I got a text from my mom saying, “I’m sorry. I wanted her to win so much, for your future.” This message lingered in my mind; this was the first election after which I had to sit down and truly think about my future in this country. What do these results mean for women in the U.S.?
One in five women experience some sort of actual or attempted sexual violence during their lifetime. The gender wage gap is roughly 16%, with women earning 84 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Women make up 28.2% of seats in Congress, 31.9% of seats in statewide elected offices, 32.8% of seats in state legislatures and the list goes on. These percentages are especially lower for more underrepresented groups — such as women of color, women with disabilities and women that are part of the LGBTQ+ community. The fight towards success is hard, and the fight towards respect is even harder.
After this election, I believe that men will become more vocal and that misogyny will become more prevalent. The men who have always believed that they are superior will just be louder because now their ideals have the backing of Trump and his supporters. The unfortunate part is that obscene statements about women have already started coming to light, and Trump’s second term hasn’t even begun. As I scroll through X, formally Twitter, I see dozens of men saying, “Your body, my choice.” We are back to square one. We now live in a society where men feel more comfortable openly objectifying women and saying these things. Meanwhile, the person who will take office in 42 days condones this behavior.
Often, when I find myself disagreeing with people on a vast array of topics, the argument ends with “I agree to disagree,” and we move on; everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. Now, I can no longer “agree to disagree.” This isn’t a discussion about which musical artist or ice cream flavor is the best; this isn’t even a discussion about politics. Human rights are not political. I struggle to understand how someone can support such a malicious agenda, described in Project 2025. I struggle to understand why many people refuse to learn more. I struggle to understand why many people don’t care, why they chose buying potentially cheaper houses or cheaper gas over the quality of life of the millions of women in the United States.
When I filled out my ballot in October, I did so with fear for my future, fear for the futures of millions of women, fear for the future of this country. Yet, society has once again shown young girls that, no matter what women do and how qualified they are, it doesn’t matter; a man is still more likely to get chosen. We are back to square one, and the fight will be harder than ever.
Giuliana Opris is a freshman from Long Island, N.Y. studying Film and Media Studies and Political Science.
