There are currently only 26 recognized states in the world that have a woman as leader. The glass ceiling still remains unbreakable in national leadership positions, even in the most advanced countries. The United States was close to breaking it in 2016 and could do so definitively on November 5, with the vice president and Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. A profile that already broke down stigmas almost four years ago, both for being a woman and for her Indo-African American ancestry, by being designated number two of Joe Biden.
And although at no time has she wanted to mark the value of her figure for these two particularities, her candidacy for the White House represents much more than the possibility of the world’s leading power hosting its first female president: Harris also symbolizes the alternative to the retreat of equality policies that threatens to boost his opponent, the tycoon and Republican donald trumpif he comes to power.
That has been one of the backbones of his entire campaign. In front of Make America Great Again (“Make America Great Again”), Harris proposes a look to the future with her We’re not going back (“We’re not going back”). “Unlike what happened with Hillary Clinton eight years ago, I think the American electorate and the Harris campaign itself are in a different moment,” he tells 20 minutes Luisa Garciaexpert in female leadership, equality and business management at the consulting firm Llorente y Cuenca (LLYC).
For Garcia, that the Democratic candidate is a woman, in this case it has not been an attacking flank nor a reason per se for which to be chosen. “Another thing is that their position on women’s rights and, especially, reproductive rights, have played a very important role in the campaign,” she says. In that sense, the LLYC expert explains that, while Clinton’s candidacy in 2016 was much more about her profile and personality, in the case of Kamala Harris she is focusing to a greater extent on American society as a whole. her as a public servant during her professional career.
A path for the next generations
Because, at 60 years old, Harris is more than used to first times. She was the first racialized district attorney and the first woman to serve as attorney general in the state of California. She also made history by being the first Indian-American to serve in the Senate and, four years ago, being the first female vice president of the United States. “Although I may be the first woman to hold this position, I will not be the last. Because all the little girls who are watching this today can see that this is a country of possibilities,” He assured during his first speech to the nation as vice president-elect.
That is another differentiating point of the Democratic candidate. It represents the possibility of change and progress towards a country that elects its first female leader, paving the way for those who come after. “That normalization is particularly important for women of all generations, but very especially for the youngest, because of what it represents to see women in positions of powerand even more so when they are African-American,” says García.
“The key to these elections is mobilization, so that no voter stays at home”
Although, according to the LLYC spokesperson insists, Gender will not be one of the issues that divides the electorate in the November elections. “Yes, it is going to play a very decisive role in certain layers of voters, especially in the ability to activate them. In the end, the key to these elections is in mobilization, in ensuring that no voter stays at home,” García emphasizes. , which insists that one of the determining factors may be the African-American vote, since it maintains that the Democratic man no longer penalizes the fact that she is a woman as perhaps he could when Clinton was a candidate.
It is, as García emphasizes, a interesting paradox: The fact that Kamala Harris could become the first female president of the United States is something of great relevance, but, on the other hand, if that happens, It will happen at a time when this factor has barely been revealed.
A change for the international panorama
A victory for Harris would also imply a very important step forward in the world order. Paloma Romanprofessor of Political Science at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and member of the Gender and Politics Research Group (GEYPO), points out that the Democratic candidate implies a “very important asset.” “There is no doubt that having a woman at the head of a power like the United States would greatly change the international panorama, because The other countries that can challenge the US for leadership are always governed by men“he argues.
The political analyst tells this newspaper that, in addition, the fact that there is a woman in the highest decision-making position “in the most important country” will, in turn, open other “smaller doors.” “Doors that are also needed to ensure that she is not the only woman who gets there,” she says. In short, he adds, the visibility that the American presidency has, its “capacity for maneuver”, the “symbolic force” it represents, its international role… all of this would be “a very important basis for a ladder that opens up other opportunities for women who are still denied them.
“Despite the sexism that exists in the country, and precisely because of that, a victory for Harris would be a very important asset”
At the national level it would also imply a significant change. “It would be the first time that a woman reaches the White House as president and, therefore, It would represent a relevant shift within a society that is very polarized right now, and where, really, until now there has not been the possibility of any woman reaching that high. Despite the sexism that exists in the country and, precisely, almost because of that, it would be a very important asset. It would entail the beginning of some other changes that would be good for North American society,” says Román.
Stop the anti-abortion wave
Now, a woman accessing a position of power does not always have to mean that she necessarily advocates for equality. Harris has not been very forceful on most of the issues that are in the public debate either, although she has been blunt on the issue of abortion, a right in decline in the United States. After the annulment of the historic 1973 ruling known as ‘Roe vs. Wade‘, which until 2022 guaranteed the constitutional right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy.
The entire issue of reproductive rights has been a clear flag in his campaign and is a very relevant issue in current American politics. “We still find in our analyzes that It is female leadership that speaks the most about equality and is most committed to it.compared to men. This is a good reason for there to be women in positions of power, although the ideal is that there would be more men talking about equality and more women talking about the economy,” emphasizes García, from LLYC, who emphasizes that Harris has promised to “stop the wave “anti-abortion” of the United States and protect that right through federal legislation, that is, that binds all states.
The question, ultimately, is whether the United States is prepared to have a woman at the head of the White House. “It depends, because there are many United States,” says Román. Without a doubt, the fact that the Democrat manages to become the country’s first female president will enrage Trump voters, who are not at all willing to see a woman decide the future of the country. Although, as García says: “When we say if countries are prepared for a female president, Basically what we are saying is if they are willing to choose a woman chairwoman”.
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