3 days Ago
The results of the recent presidential election left many people devastated and furious. Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss served as a not-so-gentle reminder of challenges faced by women in male-dominated fields. To put it frankly, men are simply not held to the same standard as women.
Women are faced with dubiety and scrutiny that we have to earn our place to overcome. The different treatment of women transcends political party, though most elected women are members of the Democratic Party. In the last U.
S. Congress, women made up only 25% of the Senate and 29% of the House, yet the U.S.
population is made up of nearly 51% women. It’s clear to me that throughout the race, candidate President Donald Trump was not held to the same standard as Harris. Trump would bumble nonsense about wanting to be a whale psychiatrist or repeating a lie about immigrants eating pets.
This lopsided expectation among candidates is entirely rooted in misogyny. People are also reading..
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Imagine reversing the treatment of Harris and Trump. How would voters react if Harris had been accused of sexual misconduct, had former coworkers calling her a “moral disaster,” canceled appearances citing exhaustion, or had a personal history of multiple bankruptcies and marriages? Trump got away with it; women cannot. CNN senior political commentator Van Jones said something that has stuck with me: “Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not taking the same exam.
He gets to be lawless. She has to be flawless. That's what’s unfair.
” Former First Lady Michelle Obama said, “I hope you'll forgive me if I'm a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Donald Trump's gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn. I hope that you will forgive me if I'm a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse — all of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn't even have the courage to do.” This unequal treatment of women has consequences beyond politics.
Even in the blockbuster movie “Barbie,” the sentiment of this standard of exhausting perfection expected of women was summed up by the character played by actress America Ferrera: “We always have to be extraordinary but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.” For a second time, a woman has lost the presidency to Trump. The role of America's deep-rooted misogyny cannot be ignored.
I can't help but think the majority of Americans would do almost anything not to elect a woman as president, especially not a woman of color. It's disheartening to know that women have to continue working twice as hard as men to get half as far. When women do speak up, they are scrutinized and doubted far more than men.
From what I have experienced, this starts early in our lives. As young girls, we are just as smart and hardworking as the boys who are recognized first. Our country has reinforced that this doesn't change as we get older.
The beautiful thing about America is that people are free to speak up and make a change. We made a change in this election by voting for America's first convicted felon as president instead of its first female leader. But the change won't end there.
My generation will be voting in the next election. I'm hoping that we can make positive changes in the future and be more supportive of women..
