Harris’ defeat leaves 248-year barrier intact for women in America

(Bloomberg) — For the second time in eight years, a woman has failed to break the ultimate glass ceiling: the U.S. presidency.

In a campaign marked by a deep gender divide, with women’s health seen as a top issue, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was unable to garner enough female votes to overcome Donald Trump’s draw from men, including black, Latino, and young people).

It’s a particularly hard blow for the vice president’s supporters because, in a race where reproductive rights have taken center stage, her opponent is a man convicted of sexual abuse. Unlike Hillary Clinton, who was defeated by Trump in 2016, Harris avoided emphasizing the historic nature of her potential presidency during the campaign and instead focused on her experiences and issues — with less than stellar results.

The result means that in the United States’ 248 years as an independent nation, it has elected only male heads of state, maintaining a barrier that has been dismantled from Mexico to Italy to Thailand. Among United Nations member states, 31% are run by women. The failure of the United States to elect a female leader is all the more striking given that the United States is considered a relatively early adopter of women’s rights and universal suffrage, and women play an increasingly important role in the world’s largest economy.

Kelly Baker, chair of the women’s and gender studies program at Smith College, said Trump represents “a violent re-institutionalization of hypermasculinity” that seeks to restore women to a diminished role in society.

Republicans, meanwhile, say the results prove voters care most about pocketbook issues affecting American families. “A victory for Donald Trump means a safer, more affordable America for all women and their families,” Julie Harris, president of the National Federation of Republican Women, who won the Dallas district, said in a statement. It also means “policies that help our families by lowering taxes and inflation and expanding new job opportunities,” said re-elected Republican Rep. Beth Van Duyne.

Harris faces obstacles that could stymie any candidate. The party was named to the top of the ballot just three months ago, so her time in front of voters was record-breaking. As current vice president, she struggled to emerge from the unpopular Biden presidency, which saw inflation hit the highest rate in four decades, illegal immigration surge and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine erupted. In the coming weeks, critics will dissect her campaign’s failure to persuade voters to support the Harris-Walz ticket.

Trump has given women plenty of ammunition to oppose him. Vulgar words directed at Harris — “stupid” or “low IQ” — angered those who never forgot his candid suggestion that fame gave him “a chance to catch them.” He ended his campaign vowing to protect women “whether they like it or not.” His running mate, J.D. Vance, has drawn widespread scorn for criticizing the Democratic Party as being dominated by “childless cat ladies.”

Apparently, this concern did not have enough impact. Forty-six percent of women voted for him, according to Fox News’ voter analysis. The data shows that Black and Latinx women voted for Trump at higher rates in 2024 than four years ago, while the share of white women who backed Trump was relatively unchanged.

Macroeconomic data shows that women still have the upper hand in U.S. business and politics. There are 151 female members of Congress, accounting for 28% of all seats, a record high. Women generally register to vote and vote at higher rates than men; in 2016 and 2020, nearly 10 million more women than men reported voting.

In August, the proportion of prime-working-age women in the U.S. workforce hit a record high of 78.4%. For four decades, more women than men have earned bachelor’s degrees, and they now make up the majority of the college-educated workforce. The data provider found that the number of women in senior leadership roles among S&P Global Markets index companies nearly tripled between 2005 and 2023, to 22.3%.

But the same study also masks a darker reality: Women’s progress at the top is much slower and appears to be erratic. During the same period, the number of women in C-suite positions rose by a much smaller amount from 6.5% to 11.8%. S&P said last year’s small decline in the number of senior executives marked a “shocking turning point” for women in senior roles.

In many ways, these same obstacles are reflected in electoral politics. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, noted that there are systemic differences in fundraising and networking, as well as job responsibilities, that leave women who bear the brunt of holding lower-level elected positions. Positions are more challenging. Parenting. Women also experience higher rates of physical and online harassment than men, she said.

Republicans have not made a concerted effort to close those gaps like Democrats, believing the best candidate will automatically rise to the top, Walsh said.

By 2024, women will make up 46% of Democratic House nominees and 47% of Senate nominees, according to CAWP. They account for just 16% and 18% of Republican nominees in the House and Senate, respectively.

“The Republican Party needs to change its attitude about electing more women and recognize the value of doing this kind of intentional work on behalf of women to really hit the 50 percent goal,” said Walsh. “It can’t all be done by one party. Support to achieve.”

It is also clear that over the past two decades a small but significant number of men have felt that the gains they had made elsewhere were disappearing. The Pew Research Center found that 39% of men believe men are worse at getting high-paying jobs, and 28% said they are worse at getting leadership positions in the workplace. While most men don’t believe advancements for women have come at the expense of women, this feeling is most pronounced among men who are Republicans or lean toward the Republican Party, with almost a third feeling slighted.

There’s also a simple fact: For some women, Trump’s comments weren’t offensive or a deciding factor in their support. The Pew poll also showed that Republican women are more skeptical of changing gender roles, with one-third saying it makes marriage more difficult to succeed.

Baker, of Smith College, said she worries Trump will rely on advisers who worked on the conservative road map, Plan 2025. Based on her analysis of the plans, which Trump has said he does not support, she worries about the economy, health care and legal issues. Such policies, she said, would seek to “force women into traditional marriages and multiple pregnancies that they cannot terminate, and then take away women’s ability to actually live and raise children without marrying a man.”

In the weeks following Trump’s election in 2016, women’s anger continued to build momentum, culminating in women’s marches across the country the day after his inauguration. Anita Hill, a professor of policy, law and women’s studies who rose to prominence after testifying at Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court hearing that he sexually harassed her, said Trump’s Victory could once again reinvigorate his opponents.

“There will be people who are more determined,” she said in an interview on Tuesday. “This happens all the time when we think people, especially women, are not being treated fairly.”

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