In the 1960s, Sri Lanka elected the first woman Prime Minister and since then women have taken over politics being elected in positions like Prime Minister or Head of State. But, not in the U.S. And it could be a while.
The United States has elected its 47th President, Republican Donald Trump. In the election, he ran against Democrat Kamala Harris, who underperformed with black and latino voters, and in many states. This is the second time Democrats have put a woman up against Trump and lost, thus, these results could affect Democrats endorsements in the coming elections.
For now, endorsing a woman might seem too risky for the Democratic party, associating it with a loss of the election. Now, this seems to be a correlation, not necessarily a causation with the information given. America does not know if there’d be a difference if a woman was the Republican candidate, because one has never been endorsed. This opens up a door for a problem in our society: the constant doubt of women.
The Pew Research Center states a “Nearly half of women (47%) say a woman president would be better at working out compromises. A notably smaller share of men (30%) say the same. And women are twice as likely as men to say that a woman president would be a lot or somewhat better at working well under pressure (36% vs. 18%)” (Horowitz and Goddard).
These results are from an American perspective, but time and time again claims about a woman’s ability to “work under pressure” have been countered. New Zealand is an example where former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern began conversations about gun control, took action on climate policies, and handled COVID-19 in her country arguably better than most of the world.
What will it take to have a female president? It requires a reworking of society, starting with word choice. Rather than a “female president” it needs to be a “president who is female. If society can separate gender from policies and character, it is possible more female leaders will pop up in the future.
Harris tried to do this with her campaign. Instead of focusing on her gender, she focused on the middle class life she grew up on, the need for health care, abortion rights, and so on. Hillary Clinton on the other hand focused on her gender believing it would’ve given a better chance. This focus affected her votes.
Harris’s differing perspective did help her compared to Clinton. But still, she underperformed in areas Biden thrived in just four years ago. Only time will tell what the United States will look like a decade from now. But, the U.S. needs work before it can have its first female president, even though a female vice president is a step in the right direction.
Works Cited
Gamboa, Suzanne, et al. "Latino Historic High Vote for Trump Due Mainly to Favoring His Economy Views." NBC News, 6 Nov. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-economy-latino-vote-2024-election-rcna178951.
Greenwood, Shannon. "3. Views of Having A Woman President." Pew Research Center, 13 Aug. 2024, www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/27/views-of-having-a-woman-president.
Honderich, Holly. "Democrats Bet on Women Showing up in Force. They Didn't." BBC, 8 Nov. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3e8z53qyd5o.
Hughes, Susan A. "Jacinda Ardern Has a Lot to Be Proud of as Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and One Big Confession to Make." Www.hks.harvard.edu, 16 Nov. 2023, www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/public-leadership-management/jacinda-ardern-has-lot-be-proud-former.
John, Arit. "After Two Presidential Losses, Women Wonder What It Will Take to Shatter the Glass Ceiling | CNN Politics." CNN, 8 Nov. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/11/08/politics/glass-ceiling-women-kamala-harris/index.html.
Otterbein, Holly, and Megan Messerly. "More Democrats Fear the Party's Image Isn't Just Damaged – It's Broken." Politico, 2024, www.politico.com/news/2024/11/10/democratic-party-crisis-mode-00188547.
Savat, Sara. "Empowering Women to Thrive in Politics." The Source, 14 Aug. 2024, source.washu.edu/2024/08/empowering-women-to-thrive-in-politics/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.
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