The U.S. Presidential election, which attracted a huge amount of interest worldwide, has finally come to an end. While the President-elect would typically be the center of attention, this time, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is receiving just as much attention as President-elect Joe Biden, if not more. This is because she’ll be the first female U.S. vice president as well as the first African-American and Asian-American to hold the post in American history. The daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris has been a pioneer throughout her career, becoming the first African-American and woman to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010. She also became the first South Asian-American and second African-American woman to serve as the U.S. senator in 2017.
Harris’ victory speech on November 7, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware was powerful as she praised President-elect Joe Biden for his “audacity” in choosing her as his running mate. Additionally, she said, “while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.” People also noted the meaning behind the white pantsuit she wore, as the color has long been associated with the American women's suffrage movement. Back in 1913, thousands of women wore white to demand a constitutional amendment that would allow them the right to vote. In the U.S., women were granted the right to vote in 1920. This year actually marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the 19th Amendment, which allowed women’s suffrage by law. Being elected as the highest-ranking female official in the year marking the centennial of women’s suffrage is indeed note-worthy.
Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. is not a front runner when it comes to women’s rights. At least 15 countries preceded the U.S. in codifying women’s suffrage, the first being New Zealand, which gave women the right to vote in 1893. In fact, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum, the United States ranked 53rd among153 countries, falling behind countries like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The overall gender gap performance is assessed using four dimensions, including economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. While the U.S. ranked 26th in economic participation and 34th in educational attainment, it ranked 70th in health and survival and 86th in political leadership. Nevertheless, we have seen some glass ceilings break in the three branches of government, such as Nancy Pelosi becoming the first female speaker of the House in 2007, Sandra Day O’Connor becoming the first woman to sit in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981, and Madeleine Albright becoming the first female Secretary of State in 1997. However, the fact of the matter is that the U.S. trails many countries around the world when it comes to female representation in political leadership positions. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, there have been a total of over 90 elected female leaders around the world, and there are currently 21 female heads of state or government.
The United States has a lot of ground to make up when it comes to women’s rights, but there is real potential for improvement with the election of Kamala Harris as Vice President. People are already talking about how she may be the Democratic candidate of the American presidential election in 2024, as Biden, who will be 82 years old by then, may decide not to run for a second term. Although the role of vice president in the U.S. has been unclear at times, it is noteworthy that a total of six U.S. Vice Presidents, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush and Joe Biden, have later been elected as presidents. All over the world, people’s eyes will be on Harris as she takes up her position as vice president. There will be a special interest on what kind of role she will play in decisions around policies within the White House, and what kind of ripple effect she will have on American society as a whole.
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