{"id":4351,"date":"2024-11-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexet.wpengine.com\/?p=4351"},"modified":"2024-11-10T13:59:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T13:59:02","slug":"opinion-misogyny-trumps-competence-in-america-why-sexism-won-the-2024-u-s-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=4351","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Misogyny Trumps Competence in America – Why Sexism Won the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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America has spoken \u2014 and in its twisted, vile way, has once again chosen to elevate a 34<\/a> count convicted felon, racist<\/a>, and rapist<\/a> over a capable and tirelessly dedicated woman. Kamala Harris, a person who has shattered glass ceilings and risen to the second highest office in the U.S., was systematically crushed under the weight of America\u2019s deep-seated misogyny.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of this election isn\u2019t one of policy or competence \u2014 no, this is about a system so rooted in its own patriarchal poison that it will continue to prop up the most repugnant individuals simply because they have a penis and a white face. This is the ugly truth: America does not want a woman, especially a woman of colour, to lead.<\/em> And the fact that so many were willing to turn a blind eye to Trump\u2019s unmitigated history of sexual assault<\/a>, racist rants<\/a>, and lawlessness<\/a> while denouncing Harris, who was held to an impossible standard, is a damning reflection of where America stands as a nation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narrative of \u201celectability\u201d is a lie \u2014 one woven out of misogyny and cowardice. Kamala Harris\u2019 credentials speak for themselves. A U.S. Senator. The first woman and<\/em> the first black woman to serve as Vice President of the United States. Yet, there was an overwhelming undercurrent that Harris wasn\u2019t \u2018electable\u2019. Not because of her ideas, policies, or record, but because of her gender.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2022 study by Jill Suttie exposed the \u2018pragmatic bias<\/a>\u2019 that fuels this myth of electability. According to the study, 76%<\/a> of voters believed a woman would have a harder time beating Donald Trump in the election \u2014 not because of her qualifications, but because of her gender<\/em>. This isn\u2019t about practicality. This is about an ingrained bias that screams: \u2018A woman doesn\u2019t belong here\u2019. Despite years of evidence proving that women can<\/em> win \u2014 and, in some cases, do<\/em> better than men \u2014 the idea that America would never support a female president has prevailed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the ultimate betrayal comes from white women \u2014 those who were supposed to stand with a fellow woman in the fight against an empire of white male supremacy. But they didn\u2019t.<\/em> 53%<\/a> of white women voted for Trump in 2024. Despite the evidence of his bigotry, corruption, and personal failings, many white women sided with a man who embodies the very worst of America. White women have consistently demonstrated that they would rather maintain their proximity to power than challenge it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

White women have simply never truly supported women who challenge the racial and gendered power structures that benefit them. In 2024, they continued the pattern. Hillary Clinton. Elizabeth Warren. Amy Klobuchar. Nikki Haley<\/a>. These women \u2014 each formidable in their own right \u2014 were met with disdain and rejection by white female voters. It\u2019s sickening to watch this trend repeat itself.<\/em> These women had to be perfect; they had to be qualified more than their male counterparts ever had to be. A woman doesn\u2019t get to have human flaws in American politics. The country will crucify her for any imperfection \u2014 even as it elevates a man who has literally used his power to assault women and divide the country. The hypocrisy is staggering.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s call this for what it is: a nation that values misogyny more than human decency. Trump was reelected despite his well-documented history of criminal behavior<\/a>, his sexual assault charges<\/a>, and his efforts to destroy democracy<\/a>. Despite all of this, Trump is the safe choice<\/em> for millions of voters. A man who boasted<\/em> about abusing women, who <\/a>incited violence<\/em><\/a> against the very institutions<\/a> that protect American freedom, and whose very presence on the world stage undermined the ideals America claims to stand for. And yet, he was deemed more \u2018electable\u2019 than the woman who had been the Vice President of the United States. If Harris had the same record as Trump, she would have been ripped to shreds. No woman, especially a woman of colour, could have survived the media onslaught that would\u2019ve followed her. But because Trump is a man, he was allowed to skate by, time and time again.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 election laid bare the grotesque double standards that define America. Harris was not only expected to be perfect \u2014 she was expected to do the impossible. No woman can escape the suffocating pressure to be better, smarter, and more qualified than any man. Trump, on the other hand, has been allowed to fail upwards, even after wreaking havoc on the U.S. for years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 election was not just a loss for Kamala Harris \u2014 it was a loss for America. It reflected the deep, ugly truths that continue to define the nation: that a woman, particularly a Black woman, is always less capable, less trustworthy, and less deserving than her male counterparts. Despite all the evidence, despite all the qualifications, Harris was torn down by a system that simply refuses to see women as leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image: Demonstration in Portsmouth, New Hampshire<\/a> by Peter Cedric Rock Smith, 2017 \/\/ CC BY-ND 2.0<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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America has spoken \u2014 and in its twisted, vile way, has once again chosen to elevate a 34 count convicted felon, racist, and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":4358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,6,12,193,414],"tags":[108,81,63,435],"class_list":["post-4351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorialtab","category-featured","category-latest","category-opinion","category-us-politics","tag-gender","tag-politics","tag-sexism","tag-us-election"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}