Can any woman escape the lies?
On Wednesday the 20th of January 2021, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States of America alongside his vice president, Kamala Harris, the first woman to ever hold that office.
I knew it was coming as it always does when women walk the hall of fame. I logged on to my twitter on Sunday morning and the first post I saw was, "Kamala Harris did not deserve that office, she slept her way to the top."
Deep sigh. I am past the point of anger at such statements, it is now resentment and frustration at such belittling and false accusations. How a woman’s achievement through hard work, intelligence, years of service and dedication can be reduced to favors gotten in exchange for sex within seconds is very mind boggling.
Why do men spin these sort of theories; is it that they have been in power so long, that a woman being there intimidates them and sets ants loose in their pants hence the need to spread liars to discredit her; Is it that they know how difficult and unfair they have made the path to the top for women so any woman at the top must have warmed her way through the pants of the gatekeepers; or they think women do not possess the intellectual capabilities and strength to learn and put in the work to get to the top. Why?
It is worse and so very heartbreaking when these sort of statements and innuendos come from women, probably because they have experienced the systemic misogyny and sexism of these institutions, they cannot wrap their heads around how a woman will go as far as the oval office. But these women are resilient, have grown sharp elbows and sturdy heels for when push comes to shove. Instead of trying to spread falsities and in doing so eliminate these women’s hard work, what we should be doing is learning from their experiences, exposing and breaking down policies put in place to slow or discourage women’s journey to the top, holding leaders of institutions accountable and uplifting and encouraging each other.
The journey to the top is tough, even tougher for us women but it is surely easier with a woman to look up to, to draw inspiration from and to use as a constant reminder for ourselves that it can be done.
