What does the end of Elizabeth Warren’s campaign mean for America?
Unlike the popular rhetoric, I don’t think the world lacks women government leadership. There have been quite a few presidents and high-rank government officials all around the world, many so called “underdeveloped countries” surpassed United States in bringing women into leadership roles. However, most of these female presidents were renowned for their “tough” image and garnered respect by adopting a more masculine persona. Think Tansu Ciller of Turkey (nicknamed Iron Lady with a Smile), Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan (nicknamed Iron Lady), Margaret Thatcher of Britain (nicknamed Iron Lady), and Angela Merkel of Germany (nicknamed as Mutti — mother — as insult in the first years of the office till her campaign embraced it and turned the table around), Golda Meir of Israel (the original Iron Lady) and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia (the new generation Iron Lady).
Sexism in the United States is quite common. Our nation often gets ranked decades behind in many countries around the world for women in elected offices, leadership, as well as the other fields traditionally occupied by men, such as medical disciplines, law, policy, STEM, military and politics. The glass ceiling has always been there. For instance, during 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton was criticized both for not smiling often and laughing. The double standard she faced in using her personal email in government affairs was quite telling when compared to the coverage of the same issue Trump administration faced. The double standard cost her the final victory. NYT story published right after 2016 elections on the “electability” concept was spot on. She was not “electable” enough. Does the history repeat itself at this point?
The 2020 presidential election surely was the first election I was emotionally involved as a newly minted citizen. As a student, work visa holder and green card holder, I have never voted before, I was not allowed. But more so than being now “eligible” to vote, something else captured my attention in this primary race. Day by day, my efforts to remain at a distance from the primary elections was challenged and I kept feeling I am drawn to Elizabeth Warren. As it has been my habit, I tried to stay away posting about politics or Democrat race, but my interest in her campaign grew significantly over time, compared to how I was emotionally disconnected from Hillary Clinton’s campaign. I knew it was not just about Warren’s very impressive past experiences, her authority as a lawyer fighting with corporation fraud and misconduct against citizens, or her impressive record of law-making. It was something else. While I supported her and funded her campaign, Clinton had never struck me as genuine, warm, social-emotionally strong, or seriously interested in others. But Warren’s campaign seemed to be emulating an authentic women voice: Elizabeth, herself, without filters.
As an immigrant women scholar bringing an international lens to my work, I am always fascinated by the gender roles expected and assumed in business life and for public persons. While there were other female candidates in the current race, I could not see a significance, or even a nuance in how they carry their identities, compared to men in the campaign. Kamala Harris, for instance, made a name by being fierce and tough, and by bringing examples from her law enforcement past. Perhaps I realized that I was seeing an authentic woman voice in Elizabeth Warren’s campaign, more than I did in any other female candidate or politician. I was quite impressed with her speeches, how she conducted herself, and her being comfortable about coming across as feminine, motherly, and kind. This was a rare quality I saw in her and she was unapologetic about it. It actually well-complimented her excellent preparation and comprehensive program as a future president, which made her the most deserving candidate in my opinion.
The authentic female voice that Elizabeth Warren brought to the Democrat race can easily be analyzed looking into her statement right after the campaign ended. She talked about concepts such as love, care, family, happiness, work, support, learning, growing together, building a movement, and did not pretend to be a hawk. During her campaign, she emulated the values of the nation whose people worked hard, loved, got beat up financially and emotionally, and she showed kindness and care to people she met. She pushed for rethinking government “for people, by people”.
I think our country was ready for her ideas, but not ready for her. If you chatted with people who are in the streets, everyone I discussed the election with said: “Elizabeth Warren ran the most comprehensive plan and strategy for the future of our country”. Then they added: But I don’t think she can be elected as president. And the reason was telling, “People will not elect her because she is a woman. I will bet on Bloomberg or Biden being elected because they have corporate support and people will elect them, they fit the “type”.
Then I was also fascinated by Biden’s campaign for the opposite reason– for being the most mediocre one. Many times, Joe Biden did not even utter impressive or even intelligible words, but his mere presence as an older White male who had a confident smile was enough to garner so many votes for the primaries especially in the more conservative areas of the country. He literally sat and collected automatic votes; he did not even have to work for it.
How the events unfolded with Elizabeth Warren’s campaign certainly helps the public to see the complete picture and make connections to other issues such as gender pay gap, gender bias, maternity leave, and family welfare. It may be experienced as a punch in our face or a sharp pain as if we bumped our head against the glass ceiling again. However, the story does not end for me with a sad note. What happened was that in Warren’s campaign, people saw a high dose of motherly, kind, earthly, and warm conduct, a practice of love that we had missed in politics for so long. We saw just a nuanced, alternative way of being a national woman leader without having to be nicknamed another Iron Lady and learned how this might look like. And just like the fate of many other artists, thinkers, scholars, and revolutionists who were not valued during their time, Elizabeth Warren’s walk-on may not have brought her the presidency, but it will surely become a cult concept, a popular culture icon, a role model for little and big girls in charge, and will keep inspiring a national movement of authentic women voice that will dream big, fight hard and persist.
See further:
Vanity Fair coverage of Kamala Harris https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/05/kamala-warren-and-the-trouble-with-tough-women
NYT coverage of “electability” in 2016 elections https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/world/europe/women-world-leaders-clinton-trump.html
Warren’s end of campaign statement https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/05/read-elizabeth-warren-full-statement-quitting-2020-race?fbclid=IwAR3YjxFS_BX7sv-H7MIp6XHUtGGhEQBPMPkWIBrN2VfP86cNQJ9X04r9j5M
