Identity and Gender Politics 2
I very much fear that the Liberal Left (perhaps because of the fact that women play such an important role in it) have suffered from a serious case of Women Are Wonderful (WOW) syndrome. (It really exists, by the way. You can look it up on Wikipedia.)
Basically, this has meant that we’ve assumed that women as a group will naturally support our positions — except, of course, for a few tragic cases, like Sarah Palin or whoever. Otherwise, we’ve said to ourselves, women will obviously see the correctness of everything we say, and vote our way.
Except, guess what? By some measures, over half of all white women who voted do so for Trump.
Why? I have no idea. But, I am guessing that the same economic factors that played a role in giving Trump white male votes played the same role with women. But, I don’t know that for a fact, and the question needs to be explored. We need to know what it happened, and what to do about it.
And, whether or not we figure out their motivation, we need to prepare for it to happen again. In other words, we cannot assume that female vote is automatically going to be for the left.
Basically, this has meant that we’ve assumed that women as a group will naturally support our positions — except, of course, for a few tragic cases, like Sarah Palin or whoever. Otherwise, we’ve said to ourselves, women will obviously see the correctness of everything we say, and vote our way.
Except, guess what? By some measures, over half of all white women who voted do so for Trump.
Why? I have no idea. But, I am guessing that the same economic factors that played a role in giving Trump white male votes played the same role with women. But, I don’t know that for a fact, and the question needs to be explored. We need to know what it happened, and what to do about it.
And, whether or not we figure out their motivation, we need to prepare for it to happen again. In other words, we cannot assume that female vote is automatically going to be for the left.
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