The Political Suppression of Women’s Voices in the COVID-19 Era
Perhaps it’s the stress of living at a time when the federal government openly demonstrates a callous disregard for the American public’s health. Or maybe it’s the constant anxiety of knowing an invisible, quite lethal virus looms in the air without any mitigation efforts whatsoever from those who hold positions of national leadership. But over these last torturous months, I’ve become exceedingly aware of the ways in which women’s voices, often advocates of moral avenues out of this nightmare, must navigate around systemic attempts to silence them. This misogynistic endeavor has always existed in our society. Now, however, it feels amplified, almost as if this patriarchal undertaking, once invisibly rippling beneath the surface, has developed a paranoid desperation that parallels the viral disease itself, with the dissent of women in political power as its convenient victims.
Over the last week or so alone, several instances stand out to me as specific efforts to curtail women with influential roles in American politics. From Mike Pence’s deliberate and breathtakingly rude interruptions of Kamala Harris during their vice presidential debate to the horrific plot by an all-male group of right-wing zealots to kidnap and, possibly, murder Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, the intensified attempts to muzzle women strike me as both infuriating and terrifying. This dreadful evolution actually makes me feel even more helpless than ever before. And to understand that these incidents follow a normalized pattern of misogynistic treatment, which female politicians have recently withstood, magnifies my personal distress. The abuse Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) denounced in July after Representative Ted Yoho (R-FL) verbally assaulted her on the Capitol steps comes to mind right away. It’s notable that Yoho instigated the confrontation as if he had every right to be despicably disrespectful toward Ocasio-Cortez in public because of the general attitude of disdain Republican lawmakers seem to feel whenever women dare to insert themselves into the nation’s political landscape. There are countless other episodes, including the renewed threat by the Trump administration to release Hillary Clinton’s State Department emails and the constant attacks on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that demonstrate a consistent, aggressive surge to repress women with authority in American politics.
While this mistreatment is not new, it feels as if the pandemic accelerated the festering contempt shown to women in political positions. As a result, and I’m sure it’s no coincidence, American womanhood, in general, suffers from these efforts to mute our perspectives, particularly during this frightening time of disease and uncertainty. According to an analysis by the National Women’s Law Center, 865,000 women had to drop out of the labor force in September due to COVID-19’s impact. This figure, which is four times higher than the men who left during the same period, shows how women are being more marginalized, forced into caregiving roles at the expense of their professional visions for themselves. By the same token, women-owned businesses are also struggling. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that in a survey of 500 small business owners, 60% of the women executives viewed their operations as good prior to the pandemic. But by July, only 47% still had that opinion about their companies. In contrast, the men questioned during that timespan assessed that their businesses’ performance decreased from 67% to 62%, much less than what their counterparts experienced. Just these two examples alone offer an alarming microcosm of the complex effect this deadly virus has had on American women. Furthermore, these realities are worsened by the cultural scorn and arrogance showered on female leaders who are simply trying to help this entire country, consisting of both women and men, through the worst epidemic our nation has experienced in a century. Unfortunately, the contagion’s disproportionate burden on women coupled with the sexist cruelty our present-day federal government exhibits on a regular basis just heightens the eternal misery.
To complicate this appalling ordeal even further, the Republican Senate is in the midst of ramming a woman jurist onto the Supreme Court who has an unmistakable history of opposing the minority rights of numerous groups, women included. Amy Coney Barrett may be a woman herself, but she represents far-right, patriarchal interests with her published objections to abortion, LGBTQ rights, and the Affordable Care Act, among other key areas of great significance that profoundly affect American lives. These issues especially impact more vulnerable populations, including, but not limited to, American womanhood, already at a distinct disadvantage during this devastating pandemic. I see Barrett as an all-too-eager weapon against the most endangered, where misogyny is cleverly disguised by feminine appeal and a soft, child-like voice to keep those who don’t qualify as male, White, heterosexual, and Christian in their place and out of sight. It’s repugnant to witness mainstream power brokers twist American womanhood in this manner and Barrett’s willingness to be blatantly used is even more hideous.
As I watch this potential unraveling of progress and observe the escalation of abuse toward women, where female politicians with morality on their side are so often targets right now, my fury grows. Yet within that rage, there is hope. The patriarchal current has lost a step, its desperation fraying at the edges of a once-impenetrable command. Despite the games designed to squelch and repress, the clever strategies and outright hostilities meant to uphold the status quo, women from all backgrounds are still fighting to have a say, to assert their rights in this society. And I don’t think that even the horrendous reverberations of COVID-19, which our federal government continues to ignore, will prevent women politicians from raising their voices and engaging in this consequential battle any time soon.
