By Susan Roberts and Whitney Ross Manzo
Undoubtedly, the defeat of a female presidential candidate in both 2016 and 2024 provides a unique opportunity to examine the continuing presence and nuances of a political gender gap. For example, one of the talking points in the aftermath of the 2024 election was that misogyny played a role in the result.
Prior to 2024's Election Day, social media was flooded with sexist memes depicting Democratic candidate Kamala Harris as a sex worker, a silly woman who only speaks in “word salad,” and alleging that she was too weak to stand up to America’s enemies. “I have never seen this fierce of an ecosystem organized to carry far-right tropes, stereotypes, and narratives than this election,” #ShePersisted co-founder Kristina Wilfore told Politico’s Women Rule.
In such a negative and hurtful atmosphere, as the New York Times put it, “Many wonder if a woman will ever be president.”
