New Delhi, Jul 28 (IANS): It’s something the US never had since it adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776 -- a 248-year history! A stunning fact about a country that has a strongly propagated image of being very democratic, standing for freedom and equal rights.
Over these 24 decades, several countries, including the underdeveloped, have elected women Presidents or Prime Ministers, but America has never done so.
The first woman elected as Prime Minister of a country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka when she led her party to victory in 1960. India elected Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister in 1966. Golda Meir became Israel’s Prime Minister in 1969. In the UK, Margaret Thatcher was the PM from 1979 to 1990. She also was Europe’s first female prime minister. Corazon Aquino became President of the Philippines in 1986.
Even Islamic countries like Pakistan had a woman PM when Benazir Bhutto took the top job in 1988. Tansu Ciller was Turkey’s first female PM (1993–96).
Finland and New Zealand have elected women top leaders thrice each. Poland, Ireland, Lithuania, France, Finland and Canada have also had women in lead roles. Angela Merkel became Chancellor of Germany in 2005 and was the longest-serving woman leader of her country. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became president of Liberia in 2006 and ruled till 2018.
More recently, Giorgia Meloni became the Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, the first female PM for her country.
The world has seen over 55 countries being led by women at various points in time since 1960. And the US stands with countries like China, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia and others who never had a female leader in all these decades.
If even underdeveloped countries can elect women to top jobs, why hasn't the US had a female head of state? This question may be baffling, but the answers are not difficult to find.
The answers lie in the various surveys and research conducted over the years during election periods that highlight the gender bias existing in American society.
In the 2020 US presidential campaign, several women senators were vying for the top job, but one by one, they dropped out of the race. One of the dropped-out candidates, Senator Elizabeth Warren was later asked whether gender affected the race, she told the media that if she acknowledged that sexism was there then everyone would say that she was a “whiner” and if she mentioned otherwise then many women would say she was not right.
Various research over the years has found that voters rank male candidates as more effective than their female counterparts who may even be similarly qualified. Most voters also feel that men make superior political leaders. And if women are of colour, they are likely to be targeted with misinformation and disinformation.
Nikki Haley, who was aspiring to be the Republican presidential nominee, however, suspended her bid in March 2024 for various reasons. Apart from several electoral factors contributing to her dropping out of the race, she also faced intense personal scrutiny. Her qualifications were questioned, comments on her appearance were made and was mocked for having an absentee husband, who is deployed overseas.
The challenges faced by women candidates were best described by Hillary Clinton in 2016 after losing the presidential bid. She became the first woman to secure the backing of a party in the race for the US President’s post. During the campaign, she frequently faced sexist remarks. After losing the election to Donald Trump then, Clinton said in an interview with TIME magazine, “…But we face what is a pernicious double standard that is aided and abetted by the idea of perfectionism.”
Is this double standard the real cause of -- why the US has not elected a female head of state?
After much struggle, women in America were given the right to vote in 1920. Since then, women have fought elections successfully but have not reached the top level.
From Victoria Woodhull, the first-ever woman candidate to run for the presidential race in 1872 to Kamala Harris in 2024, the women in the US have had one of the most difficult journeys to reach the positions they are in today.
The American dream, first mentioned in the 1931 book ‘The Epic of America’ by James Truslow Adams, talks about "a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable".
A woman's dream to become the US President has remained unfulfilled so far. But, this time, overcoming all odds, including sexism and racism, the US may as well see its first woman President in Kamala Harris, who has a strong India connect.