I keep tripping over the "gender" issue, as in - why does Hillary being a woman matter. As in, how could she possibly be viewed as an outsider to the ultimate hall of power. As in, gender and Hillary being a woman are not substantive considerations for public office.
Now, I am not going to suggest to anyone that they vote for a particular candidate because of her or his gender. Sara Palin being put forth as a sure thing to get the women's vote was deeply insulting on multiple levels. I'm not about to say to anyone that the only reason to vote for Hillary is because she happens to be female.
It would be an insult to do so, but it is also an insult to erase gender as a legitimate issue. One only had to notice how the only questions focused on women's issues were directed to the one woman standing on stage last night to see how deeply gender assumptions shape our conversations.
It would be nice if Hillary's response to how she would bring something different to the Presidency had not been immediately dismissed and disparaged. Whether it is Hillary or another women, the first Madam President will be just as much a ground breaker, role model, and game changer as the first Black President - and for similar reasons.
Socially and politically, one only has to look at how policies have shaped the lives of American women to quickly realize that gender is not only a substantive issue, it is one that absolutely must be considered and discussed. Lives are on the line and it doesn't get more real than that.
Every day, three women are murdered. Every ninety seconds a woman is beaten. While these words are being written a woman is being assaulted. By the time this post is finished, somewhere a woman will be dead.
The economic costs of domestic violence is in the billions.
Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8.0 million days of paid work each year.6
The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $8.3 billion per year.6
Between 21-60% of victims of intimate partner violence lose their jobs due to reasons stemming from the abuse.6
Between 2003 and 2008, 142 women were murdered in their workplace by their abuser, 78% of women killed in the workplace during this timeframe.4
While these words fill the page, the women who make up two-thirds of the over 23 million workers in low-wage job will be struggling to put food on the table, while being shamed and blamed for needing foot stamps.
While you are reading this poor composition of mine, women and their children are going hungry.
Poverty rates for women remained at historically high levels in 2014, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in September 2015. Women’s poverty rates were once again substantially above the poverty rates for men. More than one in seven women – nearly 18.4 million – and more than one in five children – more than 15.5 million – lived in poverty in 2014
Attacks on voting rights are attacks on women. My eldest daughter is a Bernie supporter. I want her to be able to vote for her choice of candidate.
Voter ID Laws Target Women
Voter ID laws have a disproportionately negative effect on women. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, one third of all women have citizenship documents that do not identically match their current names primarily because of name changes at marriage. Roughly 90 percent of women who marry adopt their husband’s last name. That means that roughly 90 percent of married female voters have a different name on their ID than the one on their birth certificate. An estimated 34 percent of women could be turned away from the polls unless they have precisely the right documents....
...Republicans have a vested interest in suppressing the women’s vote – at least the single women’s vote. In the last two presidential elections, President Obama won with high margins among unmarried women. If Republicans successfully suppress the number of single women who vote, they will not have to be concerned about political consequences for their regressive and anti-woman legislative proposals.
Half of the American people happen to be female and yet there are only 104 women in Congress, not remotely close to any kind of proportional representation in the halls of government. The Congress formed after the 2014 election was 80 percent white, 80 percent male and 92 percent Christian. The gender disparity is enormous and has real world consequences.
If you really want to make sure that we get progressive policies enacted, you should be hollering from the rafters about all of the above. Our Democratic candidates should be even louder about it.
Because -
When women are equally represented in the halls of power, only then will "gender" not be an issue.
When women are no longer paid less than men, only then will "gender" no longer be an issue.
When women have guaranteed control over their own bodies, only then will "gender" no longer be an issue.
When violence against women is no longer taking the lives of women every day, only then will "gender" no longer be an issue.
When there is no longer a war being waged upon our daughters, sisters, and friends, by a major political party, only then will "gender" no longer matter.
When our daughters and grand daughters can see women free to inhabit their dreams, only then will "gender" no longer be an issue.
Refusing to see how having a woman President would matter to many, and why, is entitled privilege at best.
I don't care who you vote for. Bernie and Hillary are both good people and I respect both of them. But do not dismiss how deeply gender defines so much in this sexist country. Lives are on the line and there is nothing insubstantial about that at all.