According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 2023, women make up an estimated 50.5 percent of the U.S. population. We earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees or higher, own a collective 1.13 million businesses and by my own calculations, have started zero percent of the global conflicts in U.S. history. Yet, not a single woman has been elected President of the United States.

When former California Attorney General Kamala Harris was selected to be the first woman Vice President, a glass ceiling broke, and I swear I felt the shards prick my skin.

A stinging, prickling sensation went from the top of my head down to my toes, and it had a voice. One that whispered – or maybe it was shriller; a scream, perhaps – and echoed in a generational chorus.

“How has this never happened,” it asked. “How is this the first time a woman has entered the White House without a hand in the crook of a man’s elbow?”

It’s ridiculous, if you ask me. Representation matters.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. They fought to be heard on the floor of Congress, where their work resulted in the passing of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed “all” American women the right to vote when it was finally ratified in 1920.

Of course, it wasn’t until 1924 that Native American women were even considered United States citizens, and it wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that Black women were allowed (marginally) unobstructed paths to voting booths, despite their tireless work for the suffrage movement.

Still, it would be another nine years before U.S. women earned the right to abortion, another year before they could open a bank account or get a mortgage loan without a man’s signature, another 20 years before employers would be required by law to pay family and medical leave to women after giving birth and another 30 years before they would lose the federal right to abortion thanks to three Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices.

Was reading that tiring? Join us women. We’re tired too.

What would it mean to see a woman in the White House, in that coveted and celebrated seat, as President of the “Free World”?

“Honestly, it would have such a big impact,” said sports medicine major and Communities for Our Colleges (C4C) fellow Dafne Piñon. “I am Mexican, so obviously in Mexico, when they elected the first woman president, it was a huge thing, right? Because it was a woman as a leader, like that’s something I personally have never seen, and it happened during my lifetime, which is crazy.”

“So with the United States hopefully doing that eventually, it would mean the same thing – representation. It would mean proving to everybody that they were wrong, and no matter the gender, we are able to make those decisions, the tough decisions, that we should be able to have that opportunity,” Piñon said.

“I feel like it’d be really important that us as a society has finally recognized that anyone, man or woman, can be a great leader and can really help the world and help America as a whole,” said ASB Vice President of Administration Viola Nguyen. “It is, in my opinion, a bit unfortunate that we did not have our first female president (this year).”

“But it just comes to show that later in life, when we do have one… there’s probably going to be great things that are going to be turning around in this country,” Nguyen said.

“I think everyone’s searching for inspiration,” said student Alena Benoit, who is starting a nonprofit with the aim to help non-native English speaking students and community members succeed.

“For me, I mean, even just (Harris) running, how inspiring. I just think about when I was a little girl, surrounded by non-diverse people, I wanted to see… someone as diverse as she is, to be running, to be standing up to these politicians saying no, this (inequality) is not okay anymore.”

“It will mean that America has come of age,” said EvCC President Dr. Chemene Crawford.

“We’re a very young nation, and it’s obvious we’re not ready for a female president when other countries that are considered, I guess old world, have had female leaders.”

“So when we have a female leader, it will show that we’ve come of age. We’re growing up – we’ve grown up.”

To me, seeing a woman in that seat would mean so much for representation. It would mean I could tell any future daughter I might have that she, too, could be president if she worked hard enough, and have the data to support that possibility.

Of course, any woman elected president would be far more than the gender she identifies as, just as it is a no-brainer that any man elected is more than his gender. But the door to the presidency has had an invisible sign marking it “Boys Only – No Girls Allowed” for 235 years, and until a woman gets the chance to toss that sign into the Potomac river, we will not have reached true equality.

I thought – hoped – 2024 could be that year. Apparently, America is not ready. Apparently, 26 sexual assault accusations plus 34 felonies equals the 47th president of the United States.

The reasons for Harris’ loss are both elusive and plentiful. Her campaign was stunted, beginning only in late July when campaigns typically start in the spring prior to the election year. More than likely out of respect for Joe Biden, she was unwilling to distance herself from his policies or critique his choices. She certainly didn’t engage the youth with her refusal to adamantly commit to seeking a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

A misunderstanding of the causes for inflation and high taxes aided the decision of a majority of Americans to blame their economic hardships on the Biden administration and vote for Trump. Trump’s first tax plan, enacted in 2017, does not expire until 2025, but presidential administrations are blamed for the tax code standing during their tenure whether they enacted it or not.

Despite this ignorance of the origin of our current tax policy, the American peoples’ economic hardships are very real. Whether the consequences of their ignorance – Trump’s 2024 economic plan – will lighten their hardships, is, however, doubtful.

According to an October article published by the Associated Press, “most mainstream economists say Trump’s policy proposals wouldn’t vanquish inflation. They’d make it worse.”

As for taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), his proposals “would, on average, lead to a tax cut for the richest 5 percent of Americans and a tax increase for all other income groups.”

Some say Harris didn’t move far enough to the center, some say she didn’t move far enough to the left. Despite being the only presidential candidate ever to serve in all three branches of the government, she wasn’t enough. She wasn’t perfect.

But I wonder, after watching two women lose to Donald Trump – a man I watched mime fellatio on a microphone at his own rally – could any woman be perfect enough?

Harris was mocked for her laugh, for her “beta” husband, for her choice not to have biological children and for her relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, which ended in 1995 and had literally nothing to do with anything. She was held to a standard of perfection no politician could hope to live up to, meanwhile her opponent talked about people eating cats and dogs at the two candidates’ sole debate and managed to win not only the electoral college, but the popular vote.

The reasons for Harris’ loss are debatable. However, what I don’t think can be debated is the impact her gender had on her success. America is not ready for a woman to lead, and there’s no nice way to say it: that sucks.

To be represented is to know that there is someone speaking or acting on your behalf. As women literally “be half” of the population, it’s past time we had someone representing us in the most prestigious office in the country. I just hope we get another chance.