A Female Vice President Will Do Wonders For Girls: Why Representation Matters
Representation can be hard to come by in the political sphere. Despite the leaps and bounds from even a decade ago, there is still much to be done. Recently, Kamala Harris was elected to be the next vice president of the United States. She is a Black, Asian woman entering the White House. While it will be a difficult journey for her, it’ll be worth it to all of us.
This is the first time someone different has ever been elected into the vice presidential office. It has always been white men. With such a stark contrast from Mike Pence to Kamala Harris, it’ll be a refreshing change. This groundbreaking news will not only be great for Harris, but for the rest of the country and world. Female political leaders can be hard to come by in North America. Canada had a female prime minister for a couple of months in 1993, but it was short lived. The United States has never had a female president. The closest was Hillary Clinton, who almost defeated Donald Trump in 2016. Having a minority female vice president is unprecedented. Harris will be a welcome change to American leadership.
But, why is this important? Does representation in positions of power actually matter? We will discuss the many ways it does. From the laws impacted, to the people watching, to the person elected, representation matters. It is one of the most basic first steps towards combating racism and sexism. Taking the power back one vice president at a time.
Let’s go over why it’s important for the administration to have a minority woman in power. The decisions being made in the White House will change, simply from her being there. If there are laws implemented that affect minorities and/or women, there should be someone who looks like them in the room making those calls. The worst thing to see is a group of white men making decisions about issues that will never, ever affect them. They don’t get to play God as often if Harris is in the room. If you have a deep understanding of these issues, for example if you’ve lived through these issues, you can better understand how to combat them.
Men shouldn’t be controlling decisions regarding women’s bodies, and white people shouldn’t be making decisions regarding minority rights. Having only men discuss abortion laws, as if it would ever impact them personally, is extremely inappropriate. They have no right to an opinion in the matter since they’ll never have to go through it. If there were no women able to make these decisions, perhaps it would be a different story. But, there are a plethora of women waiting in the wings, just wanting to take control of their rights.To the minority point, people who chose to put children in cages in the South are clearly out of touch, and have no ounce of empathy left in them. If they’d had some compassion and lived experience with the matter, perhaps the outcome would be different. It’s hard to trust lawmakers to put your best interests first, when you can’t be sure they even know what your interests are. While there are many white, male empathetic allies in office who can try to make the right decisions for other people, it’s rarely good enough. Since they haven’t lived through the same life experiences, it’s less likely they’ll know the best avenue to take to rectify the situation.
It can be argued representation can come in the form of a consultation. If there is a white man in power, he should consult minority women on issues that would impact them. This would slightly bridge the gap, but would almost make the white man obsolete. Why not just cut out the middle man if the minority women are telling them what to do anyway? There’s no reason not to, other than simple prejudice. Minority women should be involved in making laws and decisions that would impact their community.
Representation matters for the people watching as well. Little girls need to grow up seeing someone like Harris on their screen. It’s difficult to understand if you’ve never felt underrepresented, but it is quite disheartening to never see yourself in powerful roles. White men have always been able to picture a future in the White House, while minority women haven’t. It’s a terrifying concept to have to break the glass ceiling and deal with all the hate from so many different parties, simply for existing in a position of power. Since Harris is doing this for all the minority girls out there, they’ll have an easier time if they decide to go for it. They’ll believe they can, because Harris did. They’ll be able to set their hopes and dreams higher, because they can visually, mentally, and emotionally picture it.
A minority woman as a vice president reduces toxicity for minority girls in general. It’s easy to respect people when they’re in the White House making tough decisions. If little boys look on the television and see Harris guiding the country through tough times, they’ll learn to respect people who look like her. When the only types of people shown on television commanding respect are white men, children will replicate that in their day to day lives. They’ll create a subconscious or conscious bias in their head that they can only truly respect a white man giving leadership and direction. If they never get to see a minority woman in a leadership role, they may be wary when it happens when they’re older. This is why it’s important for both little boys and little girls to see representation in politics. It will empower little girls to follow their dreams, while reducing any bias all children could potentially learn.
It only takes one moment or person to make a difference in children’s lives, and Harris could be that person. Just having one minority woman as the vice president will make historic change in both children’s and adult’s lives. Women who are 100-years-old have never seen a minority woman in the vice presidential office. This election will change the way they see the future going and impact their outlook on humanity. If they lived through the days when Rosa Parks had to make a stand by refusing to sit at the back of the bus, this will mean the world to them. They’ll see how the world may not be so bad once they’re gone, and that all their efforts will be worth it in the end. All the glass ceilings they broke in their lifetime were stepping stones for Harris to climb into the office.
Once Harris gets in office, there will hopefully be more trust in the government. When a government shows representation, people feel like they have their best interests at heart, as they’ve both lived in the same experiences (as minority women). Whether they actually have their best interests at heart is not a sure thing, as obviously everyone grows up differently, but it is much more probable than a fully white male government. A study found people rejected the idea of an all male panel deciding the sentencing of sexual harassers. People were more likely to question the panel’s results. Therefore, representation increases government trust and makes people believe decisions will be fair. This is why women should always have representation on issues that impact them. If someone has experience in education, they’re put on the board of education. We should have people with female experience working on women’s issues.
Finally, having minority women in politics directly helps those women. It helps Harris personally that she is the vice-president-elect. Uplifting these women and giving them quality jobs will help create more equity in the world by reducing the gender pay gap in politics. A comparison could be men dominating professional sports. Each of those men brings home money to their families and enriches their lives. That is thousands more men making lots of money than women. Now, compare it to politics. There are way more politicians than sports stars. If politics becomes more inclusive to women and minorities, all the women who become mayors, senators, and presidents will enrich the lives around them, as well as their own. Harris, as a minority woman, gets to be vice president, and now, millions more will follow in her footsteps. They’ll get to experience what leadership and power feels like, because they deserve it.
Women have helped society for so long, they deserve the spotlight. For centuries, they raised the children and cooked the meals while men were out of the house. They’re capable, competent, and ready to be in positions of power. Let’s give these young girls someone to look up to. Women want to be in the US government, but the US government should also want women. If they continue on the path of low representation, the people will not be happy. Women can excel at any government job a man can do. They just need to be shown it’s possible. Kamala Harris as the Vice President of the United States will ignite a spark in young girls, and even grown women, they didn’t know existed. This spark will lead them wherever they wish. Even to the oval office, perhaps.
