As women in the US continue to be denied the right to an abortion, Kamala Harris’ recent comment on women’s humility is a stark reminder to Australia and the rest of the world that gender stereotypes in politics are preventing much-needed change.
“A whole lot of women out here are not aspiring to be humble,” Harris told The Call Her Daddy podcast host, Alex Cooper.
Harris’ comment was a response to a political attack on her from a politician speaking at a rally for Donald Trump in September.
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the crowd: “My kids keep me humble, unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”
Huckabee Sanders’ insult stems from a deeply flawed societal belief that the choice to not to have children relates to a woman having an inflated ego.
Women choose not to have children for many reasons, including finances, not being at the right life stage or simply not wanting children. But the key is that they deserve the choice without being ridiculed for it.
This certainly isn’t the first time that choosing not to have biological children has been used as a political attack against Harris. JD Vance’s insult towards her and other women without children as “childless cat ladies” has made the rounds as well.
Harris has taken this in her stride, however, embracing the fact that the children she considers her family aren’t her biological children.
“There’s a whole lotta women out here who have a lot of love in their life, family in their life, and children in their life,” she tells Cooper.
“We have our family by blood and then we have our family by love, and I have both.”
“Family comes in many forms. And increasingly, all of us understand that this is not the 1950’s anymore.”
Along with her message that the definition of ‘family’ deserves some reconsideration, Harris isn’t out here hiding the fact that she’s ambitious. She’s running for one of the most powerful positions in the world – president of the United States – so it’s interesting that not wanting to be humble is used as a political attack against her.
Especially given her political opponent, Trump, is one of the least humble people in existence. And with five children from three different marriages, he’s no poster-child for the ‘traditional family’ that Republicans often tout.
Trump is also the man who appointed three Supreme Court justices that took away women’s constitutional right to an abortion because he’s aware of how to hurt women through the use of gender stereotypes and politics.
Not having access to abortion increases maternal mortality, and the situation for women’s health in America is now dire.
Speaking on the podcast, Harris told Cooper that every state in the Southern US, except for Virginia, has an abortion ban, and says also that she “was the first vice president or president to ever, in office, go to a reproductive healthcare clinic, ever.”
We need women in politics. Representation matters because we need people who understand women’s health issues to be in the room when policy decisions are made.
Research shows societies gain advantages when their political leadership includes more women. Countries with greater female representation at the highest levels remove legal inequality between men and women, and are overall more prosperous.
When you really look at the situation, it’s so odd to think that with all the issues facing America right now– access to abortion, gun violence, political division– the woman standing up and saying ‘hey I’m qualified and ready to work hard to fix this’, is being told to sit down and be humble (by having biological children) or else she won’t be chosen.
And it would be remiss to assume that motherhood equates solely to being ‘humble’.
And politicians, more often than not, aren’t humble, making this misogynistic expectation for women yet another barrier for getting into politics.
Being ‘humble’ isn’t a job requirement for being president of the United States, and being a woman with that gendered stereotype shouldn’t take Harris out of the race.
Women are strong. We’ve long-endured gendered violence, harassment, dismissal of health issues and discrimination, while continuing to move on in life.
But this strength can be used against us. Telling Harris ‘to be humble’ is a way for our patriarchal society to continue the cycle of inequality and impart control over women’s decisions.
It just goes to show that change isn’t always humble. Sometimes it’s loud and proud and persistent.