I think a lot of the celebratory nature of a woman as President of the United States has been damped down by two things.
First, of course, is the entire impending disaster of a possible second term for Trump that we are forced to watch in dread day after day.
But I think also that a lot of the joyful anticipation of a woman president is affected by the way that Harris got to where she now stands. She’s the presidential candidate because Joe Biden dropped out of the race. And let’s face it, she became vice president because the Democrats wanted to woo women voters back in 2020.
I’m not belittling Harris her accomplishments. But it is not like Harris won the nomination under her own steam. It is much like Hillary getting as far as she did on the coattails of being Bill Clinton’s wife.
To a feminist like me, I am glad we may have our first woman president. But goddammit, why do we women still have to come in through the back door?