Author: Mylien le

3 Reasons Why Lived Experience Must Shape Women’s Political Leadership
| Apr 29, 2025

Who gets to write the laws that govern our bodies, families, and futures? Too often in the history of American politics, the answer has been: the people least impacted by those laws. From reproductive rights to healthcare access to paid leave, the policies that shape everyday life are still largely written by individuals whose own …

Weekly Media Round Up: April 25, 2025
| Apr 25, 2025

Welcome to the Media Round Up! Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Hitting a paywall? Some sources allow a few free articles without a subscription, and your university or local library may offer free access. For example, AU students, faculty, and staff have access to popular newspapers through the …

Following incumbent president Joseph Biden’s choice to step out of the 2024 election, his vice president Kamala Harris rose to the occasion as the Democratic Party’s presidential pick. Chosen to defend democracy from insurrectionist Donald J. Trump, Harris was given a daunting opportunity. As election night 2024 came, Harris found herself winning 48.3% of the election’s popular vote in contrast to Trump’s 49.8%, leaving Trump as the new president of the United States. Harris offered an opportunity to defend the “soul of the nation,”a term coined by predecessor Biden. Despite this, Harris lost the election. A Black woman born to an immigrant mother who was overqualified for the position of presidency losing her position is a story far too familiar to most Americans with backgrounds as People of Color (POC).

Kamala Harris was never under-qualified nor unqualified: she was simply a Black woman. The terms “Black” and “woman” cannot be torn apart: the misogyny Harris faced throughout her election can be viewed as “misogynoir,” otherwise known as misogyny against Black women. When Trump was campaigning, he infamously stated that “he had not known about Harris’s mixed-race background “until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black.” This fed critics who believed Harris was utilizing her Black and mixed identity to denounce her abilities.

Furthermore, throughout Harris’ campaign, people falsely claimed she had “slept her way” to the president’s office, a striking piece of misogynoir that emulates the Jezebel stereotype “[that] portray Black women as sexually manipulative and disobedient.” Even more dangerous about this stereotype is that “history of this term stretches back to slavery, when it was frequently used to justify the rape of enslaved Africans.”

These negative behaviors without being checked lead to real-life repercussions, such as Rep. Tim Burchett’s statement on Harris: “The media propped up this president [Biden], lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president [Harris].” If elected officials are stating this openly about women of color, imagine what is being said behind closed doors.

From birth, women are cloaked in the color pink meant to symbolize our docile nature, yet when a woman chooses to resist against this standard, they are ostracized. For Black women, simply existing in this world is viewed as resistance to this stereotype: think of Harris being called a “jezebel” for daring to run for president. Despite the fact segregation was outlawed in 1964, the stereotypes and racist beliefs that enabled “separate but equal” to exist still prevail today.

Kamala Harris had a “career of firsts”: “In 2011, Harris became the first Black American, first woman, and first Asian American elected to be the attorney general of California.” Harris continued to show her dedication to improving the United States for all as Senator, as vice president, and even as presidential nominee, and yet…

She still lost. Not because she was unqualified. Not because she “slept” her way to the top. But simply because she is a woman of color in a world that permeates hatred towards Black women.

Weekly Media Round Up: April 18, 2025
| Apr 18, 2025

Welcome to the Media Round Up! Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Hitting a paywall? Some sources allow a few free articles without a subscription, and your university or local library may offer free access. For example, AU students, faculty, and staff have access to popular newspapers through the …

Electing More Women Helps All Of Us Build Wealth (And Vice Versa)
| Apr 15, 2025

The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio recently commissioned original research to uncover the barriers and accelerators women experience in building wealth in our region. We worked with The Center for Community Solutions to survey over 3,000 women from across Central Ohio and conduct focus groups with 126 women of varying identities, backgrounds, and life experiences. …

Weekly Media Round Up: April 11, 2025
| Apr 11, 2025

Welcome to the Media Round Up! Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Hitting a paywall? Some sources allow a few free articles without a subscription, and your university or local library may offer free access. For example, AU students, faculty, and staff have access to popular newspapers through the …

Kamala Harris, Role Model for Democrats and Republicans
| Apr 8, 2025

Kamala Harris’s ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket last summer generated a lot of excitement. In an instantly iconic photo taken by Todd Heisler of the New York Times during the Democratic National Convention, two young girls in braids—Harris’s great-nieces—look up as Harris accepts the presidential nomination. Harris later shared the photo on …

Weekly Media Round Up: April 4, 2025
| Apr 4, 2025

Welcome to the Media Round Up! Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Hitting a paywall? Some sources allow a few free articles without a subscription, and your university or local library may offer free access. For example, AU students, faculty, and staff have access to popular newspapers through the …

Changing Perspective – Reframing of Unpaid Work and GDP Calculation
| Apr 1, 2025

A home is made with unpaid work and this needs clarity as we are conditioned in a derogatory way to think about unpaid work. The work we do ourselves in our homes is called unpaid because when we do it ourselves it happens for free and it is supposed to be free only. A minuscule …

Weekly Media Round Up: March 28, 2025
| Mar 28, 2025

Welcome to the Media Round Up. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Women are on the move! Hitting a paywall? Some sources allow a few free articles without a subscription, and your university or local library may offer free access. For example, AU students, faculty, and staff have access …

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter to keep track of all things gender and politics.

[gravityform id="2" title="false" description="false"]

Join the Conversation