Why Female Presidential Candidates Are Still Overlooked [View all]

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Why Female Presidential Candidates Are Still Overlooked
People are thrilled Pete Buttigieg speaks Norwegian, but the fact that Kirsten Gillibrand speaks Mandarin is barely a blip in the news.

By Jennifer Wright
Apr 18, 2019


If you looked at the media right now, you’d see that four very nice white men are running for president. Pete Buttigieg is on the cover of New York Magazine. Beto O’Rourke is on the cover of Vanity Fair. Biden and Bernie are the favorites. They all seem perfectly nice and profoundly preferable to Trump.

But did you know that there are also some women—and some people of color—running? I can’t thrust them onto the cover of Vanity Fair, but I can tell you that if you’re excited that Beto O’Rourke reads books—and it is, indeed, a big plus that someone reads books—well, good news: Elizabeth Warren has written 11 books. Upset that Biden is too touchy feely? Kirsten Gillibrand has actively fought against men who overstep boundaries, and, additionally, not groped anyone herself!

In spite of that, every time a woman does something successfully, people seem determined to skew it to show how successful a man was. Look at Ryan Lizza and Chris Cillizza tweeting about how Kamala Harris raising more funds than Pete Buttigieg just makes Buttigieg look better. Kamala raised $5 million more than him.

Yes, Pete Buttigieg is an LGBTQ candidate, and he seems like a very good man. But a man who looks like nearly every president we’ve ever had isn’t an underdog in this; though you would never know it, from the seeming delight of the press every time a man does a good thing. As Refinery 29 pointed out, people are thrilled that Buttigieg speaks Norwegian (good for him!), but the fact that Gillibrand speaks Mandarin is barely a blip in the news. It is likewise nice that Mayor Pete is a liberal Christian. But as that becomes a major news story, no one seems to care that Kamala Harris grew up singing a Baptist choir.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a27171251/women-running-for-president-2020/