Open Letter to Mr. Trump’s supporters:

I am a woman and I have no voice. I am mute. When I try to speak I am told that I am loud, that I am incorrect, that I speak and that I complain too much. I am told that to be liked I need to smile and be agreeable. When I am liked, I am liked because I am pretty, or because the man opposite me thinks that I have nice legs, a nice neck, a nice smile, or nice eyes.

In graduate school some male professors told me to come to their office to go over my essays, I went to their office, they closed the door and made me uncomfortable, I walked out, and every class after that I was anxious, I became an outsider, I blamed myself, and I didn’t feel like I belonged.

I am a business owner, getting clients is difficult, I often thought it was my accent because I was not born here, but the more I paid attention the more I realized, it wasn’t my accent, it was my sex and my gender.

Men I dated accused me, because I have a male business partner, of sleeping with my business partner, and that my business partner supports me. When in a relationship at first I am liked, the moment I have an opinion, I am told that I am difficult, crazy, nasty and that I should be quiet and just be pretty. Other men called me dragon lady, because I have strong opinions.

Not all my opinions are correct, and often I come to realize when I make a mistake, sometimes, I am stubborn, but I owe to myself to express my thoughts. Because men will recognize me. I said many times to men I dated that they refuse to see me, they thought I was being absurd and insane.

Often when working with managers, before I worked for myself, I was told I had issues with authority, because I didn’t always agree with them and challenged unfair policies.

When I speak to other men they automatically think I am interested in them, and when I think that I am heard I realize is not my voice, but the potential of an intimate encounter. Not always, but in many cases. I like to speak to people, I like to learn from people, and I like to hear other’s voice. But that is often misunderstood as a sexual interest on my part toward them.

Being raised by a single mother, who is beautiful, attractive, and had me when she was sixteen, I realized the power of being attractive. I refused, my mother refused for me to have to rely on my looks for anything. So I never did, I don’t wear make-up, rarely high heels and short skirts. Because I want my voice to be heard. (It’s self imposed, I do not think that wearing make-up, short skirts and high heels is forcing a “sexy” look, but where I come from these were considered a big no-no if you wanted to be taken seriously.) I feel beautiful when I have great ideas, feel healthy, and do great work.

We live in a country and a world in which women cannot detach themselves from using their body as a tool for success. It’s acceptable to feel empowered by your aesthetic beauty, it’s a form of expressing oneself, and it’s beautiful in its own expression. It only becomes an issue when men and women think that’s necessity or a must in order for a woman to succeed.

I am writing an open letter because when men, like Mr. Trump, talk about women the way he does, and society — the people of a country built on hard work, hope for a better future and equality for all — accepts and excuses that behavior, I am hurt, shocked and scared.

A few months ago my neighbor told me, when I expressed my opinion about a small injustice in the building policy, that this [the injustice] is still less worse than the old Soviet Union. When a person that tells me that he loves me thinks that the only way I can be in business for myself is by sleeping with my business partner, when a country talks about Mrs. Clinton like she is the lowest common dominator because she is one person in the political machine of thousands, and hasn’t yet changed the world and because of that she cannot possibly be qualified to be president, when it’s acceptable to measure her success against her husband’s infidelities (from 20 years ago) and hold her responsible for his indiscretions, when women still choose to take photos with Mr. Trump after the things he has uttered, when adult children don’t stand up to their parents to tell them and remind them that we live in a world where objectification is never okay, supporting a candidate like Mr. Trump is not okay, when my best friend’s father tells me that the reason he will not vote for Mrs. Clinton is because she is a woman and world leaders won’t respect her, that is WHEN I am muted, WHEN we are all muted, we women, we African-Americans, we Hispanics, we immigrants, we the lower class, we the middle class, we the disadvantaged, we are all dismissed and pushed aside. Mr. Trump’s attitude and hurtful words are not directed only toward women, but toward all of us who cannot measure to Mr. Trump’s wealth, education, idea of beautiful and privileges.

This the moment when we realize that society has silenced us, and has in its fabric an embedded disadvantage. Disadvantage towards those who were not born in the “right” family, who didn’t attend the “right” schools, who weren’t born a specific gender, who refused to adapt, who weren’t born in the “right” country, who didn’t follow the system, this is the moment when we accept being treated like less than Americans, and more importantly less than human beings.

Mrs. Clinton is tough and is okay to be that way. She is not your kinder garden teacher, she does not have to be liked, she doesn’t have to smile to appear friendly, she doesn’t have to be your version of beautiful. We all make mistakes, I make mistakes, she made mistakes. Her intentions though, were never to harm you. In thirty years of service to this country she has shown care and devotion.

What hurts me, as a woman, as a citizen of this great, prosperous and beautiful country, is the way she is attacked and the way other women talk about her. We, women are in this together, we cannot detach ourselves from being a woman, we share every word that is spoken toward the individual that is us. All the ugliness is added to our universal place in the world. We have a responsibility to see Mrs. Clinton for her success and recognize her humanity, her good intentions and the fact that we are all fallible beings, including her. Recognize that she is qualified, and more importantly that her intentions are good. Which will make her a great president of the United States.

Politics is ugly, indeed, but when the attacks on Mrs. Clinton are fallacious, based purely on feelings of like and dislike, when women and the citizens support a man like Mr. Trump, it breaks my heart. Though, I have no voice, and if I am not heard, I am meaningless, so I assume all this means nothing to those of you who support Mr. Trump. I am meaningless because I am a woman, because I am an immigrant, because I have an accent and because I cannot directly benefit you. Justice has to benefit all, not jus the the few. Justice and goodness show not separate and segregate, it should not be derived from likes and dislikes.

We all want to be wealthy, do well, be respected, be healthy and prosper. Mr. Trump has prospered by abusing his status, by taking advantage of others, by maneuvering, deceiving and using his wealth and the privileges, most of us don’t have, to his advantage. He is not ashamed, he is proud to say that he puts himself first, that he is a business man who takes advantage of those below him, and, folks, let me tell you habits do not change immediately, it takes years of engaging in good behavior to be good. The question you should ask yourself is if Mr. Trump is a good man. Those of you who are religious believe in the good, those of you who are moral believe in the good, those of you who are selfish believe in the good for yourself, those of you who believe in justice believe in doing the right thing. Will Mr. Trump’s good benefit you, your family, your friends, your community, will Mr. Trump selfishness and behavior benefit America?