The Trump campaign says gender has nothing to do with it. This week it said: “The American people will reject Kamala on November 5 because she is weak, dishonest, and dangerously liberal.” The campaign’s senior adviser, Bryan Lanza, texted me that he was confident Trump would win “because the male gender gap gives us the edge.”
The last time a woman ran for president, negative attitudes about her gender were clearly a factor. Eight years ago, Hillary Clinton touted herself as the first female candidate for a major political party. The campaign’s slogan, “I’m with Her,” was a not-so-subtle reminder of her pioneering role.
Pennsylvania Representative Madeleine Dean remembers discussing Clinton’s candidacy with her constituents. I spent an afternoon with Dean this week while she was campaigning in her district and she told me that in 2016 people would tell her ‘there’s something special about her’.
“It was about ‘her,’” she soon said. It was work. “(Hillary) was a woman.”
Dean believes the sentiment is less prevalent today, but admits that even now, “there are people who just think, ‘A powerful woman?’ No, that’s a bridge too far.’”
A lot has changed for women since 2016. The #MeToo movement in 2017 raised awareness of the subtle and not-so-subtle discrimination that women face in the workplace. This has changed the way we treat women as professionals. MeToo may have made it easier for candidates like Harris to win the nomination.
But these big strides on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion have been interpreted as a step back by some, especially young people who feel they have been left behind. Or perhaps these changes are just a step too far for conservative Americans who prefer more traditional gender roles.
So for some voters, this November’s election has turned into a referendum on gender norms and the social upheaval of recent years. This is especially true for voters that Kamala Harris has a hard time reaching: young people, many of whom live in a rapidly changing world.
“Young men often feel that if they ask questions, they are being labeled as misogynists, homophobes or racists,” says John Della Wolff, director of public opinion research at the Harvard Institute of Politics.
“Frustrated by the feeling of not being understood, many people fall into the bro culture of Donald Trump or Elon Musk. They look at whether the Democratic Party prioritizes women, abortion rights or LGTBQ culture and ask, ‘What about us?’”
