Vice President Kamala Harris could make history if elected as the first female president of the United States. Yet, her campaign has remained centered on policy and values rather than identity, a choice that reflects the gendered standards Harris must overcome as a woman in politics.
One way bias affects leaders like Harris is the double bind, balancing expectations of female leaders to be forceful, assertive and dominant without becoming too masculine and therefore unlikeable. It’s a thin line that women and gender-nonconforming individuals walk every day in professional spaces.
As voters, we must recognize this set of societal expectations based on gender to break the barriers established by stereotypes.
“If she is a fighter, then she is masculine and therefore not feminine, and then not going to be good for children. If she is strong, then she’s too manly and not womanly enough, and therefore not to be trusted,” said Mary Angela Bock, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Media. “These double binds, or these no-win situations, are something that any female candidate for office has to navigate very, very carefully.”
Since Kamala Harris may face more political scrutiny than male politicians who occupy the default model of the American presidency, she must overcome sexist media representations and minimize attacks centered on her identity. This was exemplified during the presidential debate when Harris directed the conversation away from her identity and toward national values.
“People don’t talk a lot about the fact that a man running for president or Senate is a man,” Bock said. “When the coverage goes on and on and on about somebody’s gender, it’s usually the woman and not the man. That takes up time. That takes up energy, and it takes space away from a person’s other qualifications.”
When we talk about the novelty of a potential female presidency, it’s important to recognize that non-male, non-white leaders have always been a part of history. The reality is that women have been running for the presidency before we could vote for it, and in 1972, Shirley Chisholm became the first woman of color to run.
Today, gender discrimination in professional spaces may be decreasing, but challenges persist through unconscious bias, with the worst gaps existing at the highest levels of government and business leadership.
“A lot of women that I’ve talked to through networking and who are in the investment banking space, … definitely say it’s getting a lot better (for women). There are a lot of initiatives … to include women more,” said Madison Moran, business honors and finance sophomore. “(But) sometimes it’s difficult to be more confident, in my opinion, than a man who I feel knows more than I do, or at least projects himself more confidently … because they feel so comfortable in that space.”
As students and as a rising generation of leaders, it’s more important than ever for us to check our biases. Gendered expectations, whether for ourselves or others, reinforce patriarchal barriers. These stereotypes disadvantage people with minority identities by perpetuating double binds.
“When Harris, in the vice presidential debate that she was in, where had to say, ‘I am speaking,’ she had to really thread the needle … for standing her ground in a way that then would not be criticized for being shrill or perpetuating the stereotype of the quote, ‘angry Black woman’ trope, which is problematic still today,” Bock said.
Gender is an inescapable part of our daily lives, and conversations around it are increasingly projected at a national level. From our own subconscious biases to the way we perceive others on our campus, speaking out against the patronization of femininity and the impossible standard it places on women is the first step towards eliminating its hold on our communities.
Jackson is a Plan II and journalism junior from Boerne, Texas.
