Did Harris lose because of the "likability penalty"?

Politics & Elections
1

Had Harris gotten 200K more votes in each of the swing states, she would have won by a landslide. Some contend that she lost because she is a woman. Well (IMO) yes and no. I don’t think many people thought, “She has a vagina so she can’t be President.” and people with that mindset would have voted Trump anyways. I believe she lost due to the “likeability penalty”.

That is a real thing hat has been shown over and over in research. It stems from the fact that characteristics people want in leaders are positive for men and negative or woman. A man that acts aggressively is decisive and gets things done while a similar woman is a bitch and needs to know her place. It’s shows leadership for a man to take on an attitude of “I’m your boss, not your friend.” but a woman is expected to smile more and be friendly. Whenever there is a disagreement with a coworker/boss/subordinate, it is the woman’s job to apologize and/or be the peacemaker. Note: both men and many other women view strong female leaders negatively.

So here we have an intelligent, confident woman, so already many of the men who are pussies (see what I did there? I insult men by calling them women) are intimidated. The most Harris showed how she would be a great leader, the more Americans held it against. I firmly believe that had a Democratic man been running more than the 200K per stated above would have said, “Yeah! That’s the guy we need to vote for.” Hell, how many Trump supporter saw him as an overall positive because he displayed leadership qualities? Too many.

So for all of you out there in America afraid of a woman who can be the leader you want … F*** You! Over the next 4 years remember you got what you voted for. It’s too bad you took the rest of us that wanted the best leader regardless of gender down with you.

2

I thought Harris was incredibly likeable, probably the most likeable candidate that either party has ever run within my memory, which goes back to Reagan and Carter. But clearly something didn’t land right.

It’s kind of a mug’s game to mind-read the 20 million of Biden’s voters who didn’t show up for Harris.

If you ask me it’s more about the “big man” penalty. The President is many things, but foremost among them is serving as commander and chief of a military that’s expected to threaten violence and inflict violence. People are somehow more ready credit a 78-year-old man for having this capacity than a woman at any age. She was also hurt by the very live narrative that she was a DEI hire whose ascent was maybe not 100% due to merit and effort.

We delude ourselves into thinking, well, an enormous part of a President’s job is about management, administration, planning, coalition-building, public speaking, etc. So we think that surely a proven administrator and manager would be well-received. But no. Everyone seems to imagine that the President needs to be capable of a high-noon gunfighting showdown, and women just don’t make the cut.

3

I am going to repost here what I posted in a thread when Hilary lost in 2016:

Misogyny Elected Trump.

I’m not saying this because Hilary lost to a man. I’m not saying this because everyone who has been president has been a man. Although these facts certainly speak for themselves.

I’m saying it because a man has been recorded on tape boasting about his prowess as a sexual predator against women, and this was not enough to prevent his election to the presidency.

He’s a sexual predator, and he’s proud of it. And to millions, it is not enough to keep him from being president.

And you know, deep in your hearts, that there were millions of men, pulling that lever, tapping that screen, tracing that line on the paper ballot, thinking, “Yeah, I’m not lettin’ no bitch run the government.”

Yes, there were women too, marking that ballot for the predator. Deluded creatures, Bible-addled, self-loathing types. Women who think it’s okay that boys will be boys.
Women so addicted to attention from men that they are flattered at catcalls. Women who go back to the abusive boyfriend. Women who accept woman’s second class citizen status as the Will of God. Be submissive. Be silent. I know. I grew up among them.

Women can be just as misogynistic as men.

I will close with an excerpt of a speech made by Shirley Chisolm, an African-American U.S. Representative from New York on the floor of the House of Representatives on May 21, 1969:

"As a black person, I am no stranger to race prejudice. But the truth is that in the political world I have been far oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black.

Prejudice against blacks is becoming unacceptable although it will take years to eliminate it. But it is doomed because, slowly, white America is beginning to admit that it exists. Prejudice against women is still acceptable. There is very little understanding yet of the immorality involved in double pay scales and the classification of most of the better jobs as “for men only.”"