Gender-baiting, the most heinous, and yet extremely effective method of garnering support from women in office elections since the 1970’s. Utilize this method of attraction, and you’re bound to win almost any election. Since women are the majority of the world’s population, politicians have found a way to appeal to women (so much) so, that their primary concern will be their place in society, and the status of their rights. Will they be fulfilled, or unfulfilled? Bill Clinton did it, Barack Obama did it, and Terry McAuliffe did it, and guess who going to do it next? Hilary Clinton. This is the reason that they have pulled women’s votes so easily.
First, they introduce a politician that women can relate to. They use the details and feelings common to women’s lives to make it very obvious to anyone who is a woman, that the character is like her, and shares the same struggles as she does. They know that because there is very little positive representation of women in politics, women are going to latch onto this politician, and therefore latch onto the candidate. This makes them more preferable to voters, and people who are sympathetic to women’s special interest groups.
Take a look at this chart I’ve created:
This is the 2012 Presidential vote by demographic subgroup. Barack Obama has a substantially higher percentage of female voters, because of his utilization of the gender-baiting method, despite his poor fiscal position. There were 70,996,971 women and 58,088,432 men who participated in the 2012 election, and while men were more concerned with the country’s debt, women were more focused on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. Women have come to disregard the health of their economy from the fear of losing their own rights. And who wouldn’t?
This is highly destructive to this country’s status as a productive first world country, and is harmful to the efforts to criminalize the system of Capitalism in which we live. Gender-baiting has become such a powerful method, that it has caused women to elect the candidate with the worst fiscal (or bad) position, because they have a good social position on the current issues the people of this country face. Women have come to a point, where a significant piece of their opinion on a candidate’s electability rests solely on issues like reproductive rights, free healthcare, protection from violence, protection in the workplace, and rape laws. These are almost easily protest-able, and more than likely to be achieved no matter what the president’s political party.
America is not yet ready for a female president, because there hasn’t been a female that has proven herself to be electable or responsible enough to perform the role that a president is required to perform. So much more comes into play than what you hear and see in the media. American politics are international politics. We have to remember, that the state of our country is linked both directly, and indirectly to the health of other countries’ social, economic and political health.
It would seem as if American women have become crippled at the sound of trigger words & phrases like “War on women” or “anti-woman”. But what’s shocking, is that women don’t find this offensive, but are entranced by these methods every time they’re used. They portray women as victims, enforce unrealistic stereotypes, and are used strictly to strike fear into the hearts of women, and to distract them from the real issues. It’s inherently sexist, and has never really been addressed by any social or political activist. In the not-too-distant past, candidates for political office won votes based on their record of accomplishment and command of the issues. But now the rational exchange of ideas is at risk of becoming a relic of the patriarchal past. One day soon politicians will hopefully renounce the use of gender pandering and shrill stereotypes. That will be the day when they’ll be viewed as serious candidates working to improve the lives of all Americans, and the welfare of the country.
Nocturnus Libertus is an activist, writer, musician, & college student.
The Insomniac Libertarian 