Kamala Harris, Busting the Narratives At Midlife

The new vice president, at age 56, is hardly invisible or irrelevant

Kamala Harris is about to make history on Jan. 20, when she will be sworn in as vice president of the United States — the first woman, a Black woman, the first Asian American, the daughter of immigrants. What few if any will be talking about at the inauguration or likely the rest of her term is her age. Harris is 56, an age when women supposedly become invisible and irrelevant (women actually become invisible much earlier than that, according to researchers).

Clearly, Harris is not invisible and irrelevant.

Throughout her run for Democratic president and then as president-elect Joe Biden’s running mate, Harris has unfortunately faced numerous racist and sexist attacks, which are likely not to disappear once she is sworn in. But one thing she has been spared is ageist attacks, most of which have been directed at Biden who, at age 78, will be America’s oldest president, and the typical narratives most women start hearing at midlife.

Harris doesn’t even make it in the top five youngest vice presidents. In fact, only 17 out of 48 vice presidents were older than she is. Of all the female Democratic presidential candidates in the 2020 race, only Kirsten Gillibrand and Tulsi…