Female Students dissatisfied with lack of Female Leadership following Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump.
Female Students dissatisfied with lack of Female Leadership following Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump.
By: Chelsea-Lee Kelly
January 21, 2025
After Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump, people, especially young women, are now more than ever aware of the lack of women in political leadership roles.
When Kamala Harris officially lost the election to Donald Trump on November 6th, her defeat was reeled by many. Her devastating loss reminded people of how Hilary Clinton similarly lost to Trump in 2016 and sparked a conversation about the general lack of women in politics across America. The results of both elections made it clear that neither woman was desired as president. However, Harris and Clinton were capable, qualified women when they lost to the inexperienced Trump, who was even convicted of 34 felonies months before the latest election. So why didn’t they win?
List of the states won by both Harris and Clinton.
“I feel like there's a lack of support behind female leadership, too,” mentioned Akai Bickley, a 10th-grade student who attends E&S.
America experienced its first-ever black president when Barack Obama was elected, but it has never had a female president in its over 200 years of existence. Before Harris, there were multiple female presidential candidates. Aside from Clinton, the first woman ever to be elected nominee for a major political party, there was Shirley Chislom, who, like Harris, was a black woman seeking to campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1972. She ultimately didn’t get as far as Harris, losing her nomination to George McGovern. Chisholm would have faced challenges as a woman of color and some believe that as a black woman, Harris was especially disadvantaged.
“People didn't want a black woman to win against Trump, even though he had criminal charges against him and she didn’t”, says Elyse Turner, a 10th-grade student at E&S.
According to Pew Research, although the representation of women in leadership roles has increased, 53% of Americans still think that there aren’t enough women in office. Though the city experienced an increase in women on the city council, Philadelphia, which now has a council composed of 41% women is still behind other major U.S cities and its rank even dropped from fifth to ninth. Moreover, the state of Pennsylvania has never had a female senator.
Percentage displaying the sex of people who have held senator seats in Pennsylvania.
“ I think there should be something enforced behind getting more women in office”, Bickley said.
Additionally, men have always been in leadership roles because historically they’ve been perceived to be stronger and more capable than women, who have always been considered the more emotional, weaker sex. Therefore, when a woman tries to obtain a job that requires authority, people are more inclined to question her capability.
“We’re so used to seeing men in leadership roles, so there’s not enough support behind a woman when she tries to be in one.”, says Bickley.
The effect that this lack of female leadership has on young girls is astronomical. Many young women are dissatisfied with the lack of women in high positions while others who wish to pursue professions that require leadership may be discouraged from doing so. In a society where women are still vastly underrepresented in terms of leadership, girls don’t have role models to show them it’s possible to be a leader as a woman.
“People didn’t want a woman to win because they think we’re weak.”, Turner said.
Ultimately, two women more qualified than Trump lost to him due to oppressive gender roles designed to hold women back from having any authority. However, students at Carver have hope in the younger generation solving this dilemma.
“I feel like there’s a lot of support and acceptance behind it by the younger generation”. Bickley said.
The need for women in leadership roles is now more than ever as countries less developed than America have had a multitude of female leaders, making America very behind. We must create a society where men and women can be viewed equally and their ability isn’t determined by their sex.
“Because women are important and if we just have a man’s point of view, we won’t understand how women feel in that situation”, Turner states.
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