Junior economics major

Let me start by saying this: If I had a vagina, there is no way in hell I would support the Republican Party.

The failure of the Paycheck Fairness Act, the delay in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, the push for the Sanctity of Human Rights Act and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan doing Paul Ryan things all point to a dangerous future for women looking to support the Grand Old Party.

But here’s the weird thing: I don’t have a vagina and know little of the female experience. Maybe you do have a vagina and maybe you do identify as a female. That’s fantastic, but please don’t treat this as an exclusive prerogative to speak for the entire gender.

In the past year, several liberal news outlets — The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The Nation, etc.  — have featured similar sentiments on this issue, ranging from “Why Would Any Woman Vote Republican this November?” to “Women! WTF?!” Even The Onion jumped in on the onslaught, declaring, “Women Voters Can’t Help Fawning Over Sexist GOP.”

These themes have resonated with single women in particular, 72 percent of whom favor President Obama compared to 26 percent for Republican nominee Mitt Romney (as of late August). Beyond the context of the upcoming election, the general criticism echoed in the media revolves around how so many women could support social values that seemingly malign their entire gender. These are important points to make, as the “war on women” is almost impossible to ignore. However, there is a key distinction between arguing why you believe women should join your cause and disdaining women with different perspectives.

In a population of 157 million women, reproductive rights or gender discrimination do not always define the priorities of women, nor should they have to.

Even when people claim women are not a monolithic group, they still go right ahead — with a big Curb Your Enthusiasm “having said that” — and tell women what they should value and how they should vote. While you could say “If I were a woman” or “As a woman,” in trying to comprehend the political, social and religious values of our time, no one can ever say he or she speaks for or understands the needs and wants of an entire gender. A married woman from rural Alabama experiences gender issues from an entirely different perspective compared to the single, 20-something woman from Potomac.

If we want to understand why some women support values and leaders that supposedly suppress their rights, we need to dig deeper than “Women! WTF?!” Otherwise, you’re just furthering the cultural gap between yourself and the people you are trying to convince.

More than indignant articles, shifting demographics may play the largest roll in reshaping the way our leaders make decisions. Increasing numbers of single women (1.8 million more in the past 2 years) are part of a larger base that can counterweight the unwarranted and aggressive attacks on a woman’s right to self-determination and unobstructed health care. In the meantime, please don’t try to sway conservative women through attacks on their intellectual capacity or moral compass. Try to comprehend the America they grew up in and work to bridge their understanding of the world with your own. If you can’t, you’re just as naive and narrow-minded as the people you disagree with.

This column may bear no weight for you by virtue of my manhood. I hope not. This is not a man trying to speak on behalf of my gender — no one should do that.

Nadav Karasov is a junior economics major. He can be reached at karasov@umdbk.com.