She Votes: 10 Truths About Women Voters This Election Day
Though not a monolith voting bloc, women are key to the 2020 election.
The 2020 election season has been divisive, distressing, uplifting, unprecedented and crucial for American women and their families and communities.
“The #2020election season has been divisive, distressing, uplifting, unprecedented and crucial for American women and their families and communities. #womenvoters”
“During this moment, I feel that we still need to be emancipated. There are still freedoms that need to be protected. There are still laws that need to be revised. There are more people that need to be included. There are more things to achieve. There is more space for change and growth.”
These are the words of Daina Ramey Berry, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, and they are the centerpiece of a poster project created by Rebecca Méndez, artist, designer, professor of design media arts and director of the CounterForce lab at University of California-Los Angeles.
According to UCLA, Méndez is “also an activist who frequently advocates for a sustainable future, and in this presidential election year she’s had her sights set on the November election. As part of the League of Women Voters’ and the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ effort to empower the women’s vote, Méndez created an art poster called, “There is More Space For Change And Growth.”
Take The Lead is taking this moment to highlight these 10 truths about this political election season for women.
1. The power of sisterhood matters. “Creating a community and thinking collectively is the only way forward for us to preserve our democracy. When you are isolated, you begin to feel powerless, but you are not. The power of your voice for protecting human rights is rooted in brotherhood, in sisterhood, in being human with others, not by ourselves,” says Ramey Berry.
““Creating a community and thinking collectively is the only way forward for us to preserve our #democracy,” says @DainaRameyBerry, historian and chair of @UT_HistDept. #2020election”
2. Women are not all the same. “There is an insistent article of faith among scholars of women’s suffrage that goes like this: ‘Women’ is not a voting bloc. The category of ‘women,’ when it comes to voting, is just too broad,” Susan Ware, author of Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote, tells Marie Claire. Ware says. “You have to be very, very careful about talking about women as a group and any expectation that there would be a women’s bloc; it just doesn’t hold up.”
““‘Women’ is not a #voting bloc. The category of ‘women,’ when it comes to voting, is just too broad,” says Susan Ware, author of Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to #Vote.”
3. Women voters may decide this one. Even though women are not a monolith, the sum of different women’s identities as voters is added up from the separate parts. According to The Atlantic, “A century after winning suffrage, women voters will choose the next American president. ‘The numbers are clear,’ politics reporter Emma Green noted back in August. ‘Even though a white man is at the top of the Democratic ticket, 2020 will be a women’s election.’ Polls continue to show a major gender gap, and Joe Biden ahead with women.” Also, “Suburban, anti-Trump ‘wine moms’ are channeling anger into organizing.”
“#Womenvoters may decide this one. Even though women are not a monolith, the sum of different women’s identities as voters is added up from the separate parts. #2020Election”
4. Economics motivate women, particularly Latinas. “As a result of these hardships, a growing number of women say they are now motivated to vote for Democrat Joe Biden in the upcoming election, according to recent polling data by the Pew Research Center, a Washington, D.C. think tank,” according to NPR. “Latinx women are heavily employed in some of the industries hardest hit by COVID-19. In the hospitality industry alone 14.6% of Latinas make up the workforce, higher than whites at 9%, as well as Latinx men at 11.6%. Retail and “other services" also employ a large percentage of Latinas, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In April one in five Latinx women workers were unemployed.”
“Economics motivate women, particularly Latinas. “As a result of these hardships, a growing number of women say they are now motivated to vote for Democrat #JoeBiden,” reports @NPR. #femalevoters”
Read more in Take The Lead on women and voting 2020
5. Gender plays a role in voter choices. According to the Smithsonian, “Individual woman understand their gender identity in countless different ways, but social scientists—and regular people—also think about women as a group, one with distinct policy preferences. This notion has some truth: Ideas about appropriate gender roles mean that women and men have different lived experiences, which shape women’s awareness of problems and their preferences for solving them. For instance, women are more likely than men to perform care taking roles— like raising children—and both historically and today they are more likely than men to want stronger healthcare, housing, education, childcare and anti-poverty programs. These differences shape the ‘women’s vote.’”
“Gender plays a role in voter choices. #womenvoters #2020election #electionday”
6. Black women voters are organizing. Black Girls Vote “Founder Nykidra “Nyki” Robinson, who started her work five years ago to boost voter participation among Black women, couldn’t have imagined what 2020 would bring. In a time of COVID-19, protests and harsh divisions across society, the 37-year-old Baltimore activist has had to adapt: She’s established three college chapters, hosted roughly 20 Zoom brunches and recently trained 50 women to engage with eligible Black female voters in places like Starbucks. She also launched the Party at the Mailbox campaign with the group Baltimore Votes and funding from Under Armour,” reports the Baltimore Sun.
7. Together women are powerful. “Despite these incredibly difficult and unprecedented times, I’m hopeful because I have seen that when women come together, we can build a movement. And right now, women across this country - of all backgrounds, races and ages - are fired up,” Supermajority Co-founder Alicia Garza told WIBW. “They are putting on their masks, grabbing their hand sanitizer and bringing their sisters, their mothers, their friends, to the polls. And trust me, these women are not going to let anything stand in their way.” At a recent voting event, organized by Supermajority, Day of Action, and Women Are Voting, the goal was to “bring together women across issues and identities to cast thousands of votes and change the direction of the country.”
““Despite these incredibly difficult and unprecedented times, I’m hopeful because I have seen that when #women come together, we can build a #movement,” says @Supermajority co-founder @Aliciagarza.”
8. Unprecedented turnout of women voters. “In 2020, women are realizing the power of our collective political influence more than ever before,” Women’s March Executive Director Rachel Carmona told WIBW. “They’re participating in demonstrations and marches, and they’re volunteering to ensure that their communities take action, too. Together, we will win.” According to Supermajority, “Center for American Progress Action Fund, Human Rights Campaign, Latino Victory Project, The Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, Moms Rising, NARAL Prochoice America, Planned Parenthood Votes, Service Employees International Union, Times Up Now, Voto Latino, Ultraviolet, Women’s March, Emily’s List and other organizations will come together to unite communities and demonstrate women’s unstoppable political power.”
9. A partisan gender gap exists. “Barring a giant polling error, the 2020 election will witness the largest gender gap in partisan preference since women gained the franchise. As CNN’s Harry Enten observed earlier this month, Biden’s average lead among women in recent interview polls is about 25 points; no nominee of either party has ever led by that much among women in a final pre-election survey, not even in the landslide years of 1964 and 1984. And yet, in those same surveys, Trump leads among men by three points. In 2016, the gender gap in voting preference was 20 points; if current polls hold steady, it will be 28,” according to New York magazine.
10. Citizenship is leadership. Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead, writes, “Your voice is a critically important strain in the beautiful, and sometimes messy, cacophony of democracy. Voting is the one place in our society where everyone can have an equal say, an equal leadership role as it were.” The creator of 9 Leadership Power Tools writes, “But that’s true only if they vote — every time. Perhaps I should make voting Power Tool #10. And after the voting is over, please continue to exercise the opportunity to use your voice in the public square. That’s citizenship. In keeping with my view of leadership that a leader is someone who gets things done, and that we are all able to exercise leadership from whatever chair we sit in, regardless of the organization or situation, I’m a true believer in the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen.”
“Citizenship is #leadership. @GloriaFeldt, co-founder and president of @Takeleadwomen, writes, “Your voice is a critically important strain in the beautiful, and sometimes messy, cacophony of #democracy.” #Vote”
“@GloriaFeldt, President of @Takeleadwomen writes: “And after the #voting is over, please continue to exercise the opportunity to use your voice in the public square. That’s #citizenship.” #womenleaders”
