Elizabeth Warren could never escape the baggage of being a ‘female candidate’
Elizabeth Warren wasn’t trying to be the first female president.
She wanted to be president. She wanted to cut banks down to size and relieve student debt. Root out the corrupt influence of money in politics and go after monopolies.
Warren didn’t focus on how she’d be breaking a glass ceiling. She didn’t shy away from her gender, but when she talked about feminism, it was most often centered on female organizers and the movements they’ve led throughout history.
But Warren couldn’t just run for president. At every step of the campaign, she was reminded that people still saw her as a female candidate, with all the baggage that comes with that designation ― questions about her toughness, likability and relatability.
No male candidate has ever been asked what it meant to run as a man for president. They have all had the luxury of being self-defined by other qualities. Warren never had that moment.
“Gender in this race, you know that is the trap question for every woman,” Warren said in her press conference Thursday, announcing she was dropping out. “If you say, ‘Yeah, there was sexism in this race,’ everyone says, ‘Whiner!’ And if you say there was no sexism, about a bazillion women think, ‘What planet do you live on?’ I promise you this ― I will have a lot more to say on that subject later on.” [Continue reading…]