On 6 November 2024, when the results of the US Presidential Elections came in, it prompted a discussion on whether the authority gap between men and women had just got wider.
The authority gap is the difference between how men and women are treated, perceived, and preferred for roles at the workplace.
Mary Ann Sieghart, journalist and author of The Authority Gap, talks of this gap in her book, where she interviews a diverse and powerful group of women, from Hillary Clinton to novelist Bernardine Evaristo.
Sieghart says in her TED talk that the further we are from the white male middle-class default, the wider the authority gap.
But exactly how much did the authority gap matter in the just-concluded US Presidential elections, considering the turbulent socio-political scenario prevailing in the country and worldwide, with economic anxiety high on the list of voter priorities?
The answer is complex.
During Kamala Harris’ election campaign, her race, the fact that she does not have biological children, her laugh, her smile and her voice were as much topics of discussion as her ability, her experience, her position as the VP.
Gender was not the sole or primary factor in her defeat, but it was certainly a crucial factor.
For the record, Harris was also heavily criticised by a section of her own party’s traditional support base for her persistent endorsement of Israel during the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, for the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued supply of arms to Israel (with funds, they pointed out, that could have been invested instead in education and healthcare for poor and middle-class Americans), and for snubbing pro-Palestine critics at her rallies.
In contrast, Donald Trump’s core supporters are largely either anti-Palestinian or indifferent to Palestine’s plight.
As these multiple factors converged, Harris’ male opponent with “34 felony counts, one conviction, two cases pending, two impeachments and six bankruptcies” – as listed on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine – was voted to power as the 47th President of the United States of America.
An article on the Pew Research Centre’s website says that as of October 2024, only 13 countries out of 193 UN member states have women as leaders.
Sieghart further quotes a study that found that 70 per cent of men will rate a man higher than a woman for achieving the same goal. And women with the same qualification as a man are less likely to be called for a job interview.
And so, irrespective of the extent to which gender governed the results in these elections, the glass ceiling in America just got a little more fortified.
InkSights is a monthly art series by NWMI member Anupama Bijur viewing current affairs through a gender and news lens.
