Louise Roberts: Kamala Harris should address toxic masculinity

From the polling booth to the White House, women dominated the 2020 US presidential election — and they could next take up a surprising new cause, writes Louise Roberts.

It’s a terrific time to be a woman in American politics.

Post-election, it’s the f-word all the way: first at everything.

Kamala Harris’s path to vice president-elect is strewn with glass shards from the ceilings she has ­obliterated.

The first woman, first African American and first Asian American vice president in the history of the United States, to name the most notable ones.

And the incoming First Lady, Dr Jill Biden, a college English professor with four degrees, will become the first FLOTUS with a career outside of the White House.

When asked pre-election if she would keep her day job, Dr Biden’s response was immediate.

Jill Biden and her husband, US President-elect Joe Biden, hug on stage after Biden's address to the nation. Picture: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

“If we get to the White House, I’m gonna continue to teach,” she said.

“It’s important, and I want people to value teachers and know their contributions, and lift up the profession.“

After all, she worked as an educator when she was wing woman to her bestie, the then-FLOTUS Michelle Obama.

On the stats front, there’s also some interesting firsts. Donald Trump’s strongest demographic by percentage was married women.

Joe Biden’s strongest demographic by percentage was unmarried women, according to the New York Times.

Being a trailblazer carries its own peculiar pressure but soon enough the Biden and Harris female warrior success — the spark, the inspiring leadership, the fight — will pivot, to use an oft-heard 2020 catchphrase.

The expectation to fulfil and achieve more will be enormous and there’s no doubt the blame game will begin.

Kamala Harris has made history by becoming the first woman elected to the office of Vice President. Picture: Andrew Harnik/AFP

Why has Harris, an adored stepmother known as Momola, never had children of her own, some may snipe. It’s a deeply personal question which of course is no one’s business but hers.

And why is Jill Biden perpetuating the crushing myth that woman can do it and have it all, brandishing a superwoman schedule that makes the usual school run/office dash look lame.

The “starting conversations” and “using platforms for blah blah initiatives” will continue apace in a bid to satisfy the unquenchable thirst for change in the US.

But for all the shift in society that has benefited Harris and Biden and the male domains they have conquered as women, what will they in turn do for men?

Harris wore a pant suit and a silk pussy-bow blouse when she addressed the nation.

All in white, a colour choice often favoured by those wanting to acknowledge the suffragette movement.

US politics has long been dominated by men but this recent election, which has seen the first female vice-president headi to the White House, was mostly influenced by women. Artwork: Terry Pontikos

That aside, surely at least one of these women’s greatest legacies might be to establish a new path to equality.

And by that I mean addressing the toxicity attached to being a man in 2020 and beyond.

Essentially, it is demonstrating to the younger generations of women, inspired by their election victory, that men don’t need to be pilloried or exorcised in order for women to achieve.

That modern feminism by definition should mean equality, not the subjugation of men.

Every left-leaning publication worth its anti-conservative credentials routinely “explores” what the modern double X chromosome life actually feels like.

For example the new Guardian US series, The State Of Men, says masculinity “finds itself in a state of flux” “as longstanding structures of gender, power and privilege undergo major reappraisal”.

It continues: “Pervasive stereotypes about men — that they are fundamentally aggressive, domineering, promiscuous and unemotional — are slowly being dismantled, freeing them and society at large to reassess what makes a man.”

But it hasn’t changed that much for blokes.

Harris debates Mike Pence during the campaign. Picture: Morry Gash/AFP

The suspicion and torment continues of young men made to feel bad for being young men, of men wrongly accused of sexual assault, of men ­denied time with their biological children.

“I am speaking,” Harris said in a recent debate against Mike Pence, resonating with women who have been interrupted by men.

So why not pick up that thread, Ms Harris, and examine how men are treated in modern society?

It puzzles me why high-profile female politicians and leaders never want to tackle the juggernaut of toxic masculinity.

Maybe it’s easier to get on the bandwagon of populist angry ­feminism.

President-elect Biden has been praised for “hiring women at high levels” and “embracing the idea that women should have the same opportunities and be taken with the same seriousness as male staff”.

US President-elect Joe Biden has been praised for hiring women. Picture: Andrew Harnik/AFP

And Harris’s motto from her mum: “You may be the first, but make sure you’re not the last” would serve as a useful reminder when it comes to the issue of men’s rights.

Katherine Jellison, a professor at Ohio University, says that previous FLOTUS have not been “allowed” to have both a work life and a family life — to be like a modern woman.

“Maybe the time has come when Americans will be more accepting of the idea that a President‘s wife can simultaneously be a First Lady and a working professional,” Jellison said.

Maybe too, the time has come for this most high-profile American female duo to set a global example about how we should not expect men to apologise for being male because the inherent patriarchy apparently makes life easier for them.

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