Pictured Above: Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president of the United States last Wednesday.
Courtesy of Kamala Harris on Facebook
By Rebecca Nero
Courtesy of Rebecca Nero
Last Wednesday we saw history being made – what future generations will see in their textbooks, we saw in real time.
We saw the first woman be sworn into the second-highest office in the nation as vice president. Kamala Devi Harris; some call her Senator Harris, some call her auntie and some call her soror – but you can just call her Madam Vice President.
In addition to being the first woman, she is the first black and South Asian person to occupy this office. She is a graduate of Howard University, a historically black university and she was in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, which was the first intercollegiate historically African American Greek-lettered sorority.
As someone who strongly advocates for women in politics and has worked to help elect women to public office, my heart sang when I saw Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina and Hispanic woman appointed to the highest bench, swear in Vice President Harris.
Her appointment means another glass ceiling broken for women and little girls everywhere. Women have traditionally struggled to obtain political power, even in the present day. Many women are forced to create a persona for themselves so that they do not come off as too tough, as too cold but also not too weak or too nice. They have a never-ending balancing act to keep up with.
It was evident in the 2016 presidential race, and in the 2020 primary, that sexism and misogyny still runs rampant in American politics.
I have no doubt in my mind that Vice President Harris will smash these repressive perspectives, and push us to challenge our notions of what people in higher office look and act like.
Many women have come before Vice President Harris; she often makes it a point to acknowledge the “shoulders she stands on.” Her campaign colors when she originally ran for president in 2020 were purple, as was her dress during the inauguration. An homage to the late Shirley Chisholm who also incorporated purple into her campaign colors. She was the first African American woman to run for president in 1972.
I ask myself, though, is Kamala Harris being vice president good enough? While this moment is historic, I think we can still reflect on what this actually means for women.
Representation is extremely important, but a line should be drawn between representation and tokenism. It means nothing if we put women in positions of power and they do not deliver on behalf of women and they uphold systems that oppress not only women but all people.
This is true in every aspect, from the Oval Office to university advisory boards. Often people equate women being equal by measuring their capabilities and their status to that of a man.
The gender equity we strive for cannot force us to claw our way out of the status of men, rather it should seek to dismantle the systems that hold white men in higher regard – liberation is about removing barriers not redefining them.
While having a black and South Asian woman vice president is celebrated and will break down stereotypes and reimagine how we see women, we must also keep our eyes on the prize of true gender equity and not get lost in the aesthetics of identity.
It is important to challenge our notions of what real equity and equality mean and not wrap it all up in titles and positions of power.
