Gender Inequality In The Presidential Race


It is about time the United States had a female president. It is embarrassing how few women are in upper-level politics. However, current female presidential candidates Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton are guilty of a stepping in the wrong direction for gender equality.

In the second Democratic Debate, Hillary Clinton was asked a question regarding her ties to wall street. She went on to talk about her many female donors and pulled the gender card instead of answering the question.

Hillary Clinton Women Donor Video

“I have hundreds of thousands of donors most of them small and I’m very proud that for he first time a majority of my donors are women.” -Hillary Clinton

During the fifth GOP debate, Carly Fiorina went on to use a similar tactic by quoting Margaret Thatcher.

Carly Fiorina Margaret Thatcher Quote

https://youtu.be/OYF18Tb_8w0?t=19m2s

“Margaret Thatcher once said if you want something talked about ask the man. If you want something done ask a woman.” -Carly Fiorina

Both Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina are trying to appeal to women voters. Strategically, that makes sense. However, by highlighting that they are women so frequently both Fiorina and Clinton are discouraging gender equality. For women to have equality in politics their gender needs to not matter. Women should not be highlighted as an alternative to men. The best way to encourage gender equality is to answer questions just like every other candidate. When is the last time you heard a male presidential hopeful point out that he is a man or has male supporters/donors? Male presidential candidates also do not usually quote men about how men are better than women. Male candidates don’t have to do any of these things. If the United States is aiming for gender equality women should not be doing any of those things either.

Making additional comparisons, like Carly Fiorina’s quote, is a step in the wrong direction. Playing the gender card is even worse when it replaces an intelligent actual answer to the questions asked. Failing to answer questions and playing the gender card instead perpetuates the thought that women are somehow less capable than men to act as the president of this country.

Having presidential candidates judged solely on their merit, competence, and stance on various positions is, unfortunately, a long way off (and possibly unattainable for the GOP). For now, people will continue to see men and women candidates as distinct, different options, partially due to both Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina helping to highlight the differences between male and female candidates. In reality, the ability to act as a great president has nothing to do with gender.

Americans will continue to see a divide in genders until the candidates stop pointing them out or using their gender as an excuse for not adequately answering questions. Seeing beyond gender and gender equality will only start when women candidates are not seen as a novelty. For this to happen we need more women candidates; ones who are better prepared and in no need of the gender card.

Featured Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr. Available under a Creative Commons License.

Emily Coday is a writer, educator, advocate, and tutor from Denver, CO. She is a sex-positive feminist and Bible belt escapee/atheist as well as an advocate and educator for POTS, polyamory, and LGBTQIA+ issues. Visit https://www.facebook.com/EmilyCodayWriting/ to read more of her writing or follow her on Twitter @Emily.Coday.