The US presidential race reveals a nation still grappling with gender inequality, despite progress, opines Navodita, exclusively for Different Truths.
As the USA votes for its president on November 5, Tuesday, the big question this time is: has America matured for its women presidential candidates? The last time Hillary Clinton was in the fray in the 2016 presidential election, she managed to win many a popular vote and has had a very active political career. She was the first woman in the history of America to contest for the presidential race against Donald Trump while Kamala Harris is the first woman to become Vice President in 2021.
However, the fact remains that women often remain out of the domain of active politics, with only a few holding fort like Nikki Haley and this time Kamala Harris. A country that takes pride in being the epitome of freedom and dignity to everybody, irrespective of gender, race, colour and ethnicity still manages to discriminate subtly based on gender.
In a major blow to reproductive rights in America, two years ago the Supreme Court stated that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States, reversing a long-settled law. President Joe Biden dismissed the court ruling as ‘an extreme and dangerous path’ for America. As a few women fight it out to stay put in a male bastion, the truth is that historically in the first one hundred and thirty years of its existence, it was an all-male Senate. Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to come to power in the House and the Senate in 1949.
Of course, things have changed for the better in the 21st century where women like Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice have created history; Madeleine Albright is the first woman U.S. Secretary of State and Condoleezza Rice is the first woman of colour Secretary of State. Alongside, in 2007, Italian-origin Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House, too.
However, the picture becomes dismal in a few cases: one-third of single women live in extreme poverty; there is still a wage gap between men and women, women still make up the majority of the population that takes up low-paid jobs and doing unpaid caregiving work; the likelihood of fellow soldiers attacking U.S. military personnel is higher for women than for men, who continue to experience violence and abuse. combat. A large number of women remain underrepresented in leadership positions.
Picture design by Anumita Roy
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