The 'Woman Card' Brings a Wealth of Disadvantages

The ‘Woman Card’ Brings a Wealth of Disadvantages

According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, the notion that women are more privileged than men has serious traction: Thirty-eight percent of all men, and 34 percent of all white Americans believe that a candidate's femaleness is a trump card (no pun intended). According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, the notion that women are more privileged than men has serious traction: Thirty-eight percent of all men, and 34 percent of all white Americans believe that a candidate's femaleness is a trump card (no pun intended).

Here in the U.S., hundreds of women are running for political office this November — many of them progressive women such as Lucy Flores, who is running for Congress in Nevada. Some years ago, Flores shared the personal story that she had an abortion at the age of 16, and she has made women’s right to reproductive health care an important part of her campaign platform. It remains to be seen how well her female privilege works to get her elected to office. I am no fan of Hillary Clinton, simply because she is a neoliberal centrist wolf cloaked in progressive sheep’s clothing. However, she has many advantages propelling her toward the Democratic nomination, including the support of her party’s establishment, Wall Street executives and even Republicans. Although the “woman card” is her burden, too, the idea that being female is an advantage is not as dangerous for wealthy, powerful white women like Clinton as it is for the rest of us. As a woman in science — I have three degrees in astronomy and physics — I was constantly undermined by male students and professors. As an immigrant woman, I have encountered many verbal assaults by racist men. As a brown-skinned woman with a hard-to-pronounce name and a slight accent, I have lost professional opportunities to men (and white women) throughout my career. As a working mother, I have seen my career set back months or years for taking maternity leave. As a woman taking early morning walks for exercise, I have felt the fear that only a woman feels of encountering men on secluded streets. My experiences are better than what impoverished women or female victims of sexual assault and physical violence live through; or what women living in Indiana or Texas and needing an abortion have to go through; or what black, indigenous or undocumented women endure. In fact, my experiences are better than those of most women the world over who live in far more dangerous circumstances than I do. Women have to be exceptional in order to be seen as equal to mediocre men. If the “woman card” exists, it is a liability. Forget Trump — we need ordinary Americans to understand that injustice and rectify it. Your support matters…

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