What keeps us from putting a woman in the White House?

[struggle4progress]

In the past three election cycles the United States has had two chances to elect a woman president. And both times, the least qualified candidate in modern history has beaten two objectively well qualified women for the job. President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign “did a full court press on the institutionalized misogyny that is very much a part of American life,” said Molly Jong-Fast. But the United States could be doing more to normalize and encourage women in leadership. “Other countries have invested a lot more in closing some of these gender gaps in politics and outside of politics than the U.S.,” said Professor of Gender & Politics at Royal Holloway University of London Jennifer Piscopo.

[Conjuay]

1. Short answer?

Dicks.

[PortTack]

2. Two words white patriarchy

[Babajida]

3. I'm fairly certain that misogyny isn't confined to white men

Hell, I'm not even certain it's confined to just men.

[madville]

7. I know tons of conservative women

That support Trump and DeSantis, I’m in bright red north Florida though.

[Yavin4]

10. If White Women voted in the same percentages that Black men did, both female candidates would've won in a landslide.

So, yes, it's not just a male thing.

[whathehell]

18. If White or Hispanic Men voted in the same percentages

as Black men, both female candidates would have also won in a landslide.

[tenderfoot]

17. Many women are worse misogynists than men

Especially conservative women

[whathehell]

20. Guess what?..Like all oppressed people, women tend

Last edited Mon Nov 11, 2024, 05:10 AM - Edit history (1)

to internalize the low opinion foisted on them by the dominant group.
When you're treated as "less" from the moment you open your eyes, you start believing it.

[yourout]

4. It will happen eventually but it's going to take a fight...

And probably the death of most of my generation.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. No one will want to hear my opinion.

Therefore I will give it. And this applies to Haley as well.

They needed to channel Margaret Thatcher. A little more prim and proper, a bit more cunning. Trimmed nails and business suits. Who hasn't tried to ban me yet? Less casual and more stern. A dominant stance instead of an emotional one.

That's all I got.

[Mosby]

8. Two words

Big Gretch.

[madville]

6. Poor favorability numbers under 50%

A Michelle Obama-like candidate would win easily imo, by at least 10% nationwide and 320+ EV votes.

[Yavin4]

11. No. She wouldn't win.

Especially in this climate.

[Dem4life1234]

9. It's such a simple answer

Lots of American men don't want women in power and lots of American women will throw other women underneath the bus cause they suffer from internalized misogyny and can't come together like men do. Except black women, black women had the sense to vote for what's best for the country .

[bigtree]

12. nation full of women haters

...and men who think they're entitled to power over them.

[Glorfindel]

13. "Hillary" and "Kamala" - being referred to as girls, not women.

Senator or Secretary Clinton, Vice President Harris have much more clout than two silly, incompetent girls called - even by their supporters - by their first names. We need to stop doing that.

[Mariana]

14. Religion is probably a factor.

Trump got the majority of the Christians' votes in 2016 and in 2024

[Zeitghost]

15. We haven't chosen the best candidates

Clinton and Harris were both Senators from coastal, deep blue states. Hillary had all the baggage from Bill and Kamala did horribly in the 2020 primaries.

Being the first anything elected to office unfortunately comes with a higher hurdle. We will need the Obama of female candidates to clear it. Somebody that knows how to build coalitions and win in Midwest and Iron Belt states. Having executive experience is also a plus. Gretchen Whitmer is a possibility, so is Laura Kelly in Kansas if she can get some more national exposure.

[Karasu]

16. The continued existence of social conservatism.

Even when we're 6 years out from total climate catastrophe and literally have no time to be dealing with that kind of shit anymore.

Misogyny and patriarchy being the biggest symptoms.

[roamer65]

19. The South, minus Virginia.

Aka the former Confederate states.

[haele]

21. American propaganda over the past 250 years. An "Robust Christianity".

America spread out too far and the simple stereotypes are the norm.the hero is always the "Rugged Individual" the scrappy self-made man (either a country boy or lower cass working stiff).and the villain is always either the nameless bureaucrat (pencil neck know-it-all), or over-greedy rich man, both of whom would be elitist wet blankets with too much education for their own good.

As for women, well, women were always either victims or supporting staff. The purty gal (the hero's reward), the sassy gal (sidekick or otherwise relatively clever NCP), the servant, or the stuck up witch who will get her commupance

The smart people, the thinkers and planners in the American Myth are rarely Heros to the average person. Because most Americans at most think locally, not even regionally. They don't interact with the leaders and scholars that have them the way of life they've become accustom to. And the harder life is for them, the less they care about people the next town over, let alone the rest of the people in the state.

It's really easy to fall back on the tropes. So if your community tradition has been that the strongest male runs the community, you aren't going to consider a woman might be just as capable of leadership as the strongest man, even if the strongest man is a lying cheater and bully who will destroy your community.

My fellow Americans as a group tend to be provincials, suspicious and stubborn when it comes to their own ideas what Democracy means to them. And that's been true since De Toquville toured the US to write about Democracy in the Americas in the early 19th century.

Haele