Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recently came under scrutiny for reportedly telling Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that a woman could not win the presidency. Whether or not Sanders said that, the idea that women are less electable than men is a widespread myth that perpetuates sexism. Women aren’t less electable; some voters are buying into this disinformation and exacerbating a cycle that keeps women out of office. With elected women leading major countries around the world such as Germany and Bangladesh, U.S. voters should not be dissuaded from voting for a woman.

Electability is a key factor voters consider when determining which candidate to vote for in the 2020 Democratic primaries, especially as many Democrats are mainly concerned with displacing U.S. President Donald J. Trump from office in the general election. An Ipsos poll from June 2019 found that while 74 percent of Democrats and Independents would support a female president, only 33 percent believed other voters would as well. This bias indicates that while most are comfortable with a female president, the fear of lower electability for female candidates is holding them back from giving monetary support or endorsements. Voters do not need to keep pondering over whether our country is ready for a female president: we’re past due for one.

The debate over whether a woman can be president needs to come to an end. A study by the Reflective Democracy Campaign found that, across the country, women and people of color are just as likely to win elections as white men. Additionally, in the 2018 midterm elections, non-incumbent Democratic female candidates won at a higher rate than their male counterparts in Senate, U.S. House and state elections. Women are already as electable as men and deserve to be treated as so by voters and donors. 

As Warren pointed out, the current female presidential candidates could, in many ways, be considered more electable than the male candidates. She stated that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and herself were the only candidates on stage at the last Democratic primary debate who had never lost an election in their political careers. Sanders’ alleged remark would have been unfair considering Warren’s strong electoral track record and reflects a larger problem in the current political climate: women are being forced out of politics by the incorrect assertion that female candidates don’t stand a chance.

Despite the evident electability of women, we still face unequal representation in politics. Women of color, in particular, make up around 20 percent of the population but only hold 4 percent of all elected positions. In Congress, even after an influx of new female senators in 2018, women still comprise less than 25 percent of Congress though they make up half of the population. This clear disparity demonstrates that women do not have adequate representation in important decisions regarding their autonomy and livelihood. In order to ensure proper representation, the pervasive myth regarding women’s electability must come to an end. 

Female candidates are less likely to be viewed as likeable than men. Research shows that voters tend to be more averse to female leaders due to stereotypes that women should be meek and kind while men are allowed to be assertive and dominant. The likeability effect signifies that female candidates have to play a fine line of seeming presidential without becoming unlikeable; they must work harder to prove to voters that they are as presidential and electable as male candidates, and this burden should not be placed upon them. 

The fear of women’s electability adds an undue burden for female candidates to prove their place in politics. Women end up having to put in double the work to convince donors that they are electable. By perpetuating the claim that women are incapable of winning elections, voters have created an unfair double standard between male and female candidates. Until this gender discrimination ends, women will continue to put in more work for fewer returns than their male counterparts if they wish to play an important role in politics. 

Voters, it’s our responsibility to do better. False myths of electability should not dissuade voters or donors from supporting a female candidate. Our country is ready for a female president. We just have to accept it. 

Brammhi Balarajan (23C) is from Las Vegas.

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