Kamala Harris redefines identity politics

AUTHOR: M.J.

Kamala Harris avoids focusing on her gender and ethnic characteristics, symbolizing the transition to a new political era in which identity is no longer a key campaign argument. Instead, it devotes itself to essential issues and shows how political dynamics and expectations are changing, evaluates French journalist Sylvie Kofman for Le Monde.

A symbol of a calm approach to gender and ethnic issues, the Democratic candidate, although a feminist and black, avoids highlighting these two elements that could make her the first woman of color in the White House.

But why the beige suit? Even more so than in Europe, the fashion choices of female politicians in the United States of America are always highly commented; Kamala Harris could not avoid this rule on the opening night of the Democratic Convention in Chicago, Monday, August 19. And, since she chose the pants with jacket option, the color was discussed. Intrigued, New York Times fashion columnist Vanessa Friedman gave up trying to explain the day's choice of beige. However, she perfectly understood the message of the navy blue Chloé ensemble the candidate chose for her closing speech on Thursday, August 22: "Kamala Harris is dressed for a new era."

Context is needed to understand how a classic navy suit can represent a new era. In the United States, women who make it to the top of politics like to celebrate that success by wearing white, the color of the suffragettes. In 2016, candidate Hillary Clinton chose a white suit to deliver a speech at the Democratic convention. This Sunday, in Chicago, she was again in white, as were several other speakers and many delegates.

Why did Kamala Harris break that tradition? Because, exactly, she has passed that stage. Not once in her speech on Thursday did she mention that, if elected on November 5, she would be the first female president of the United States of America. No one forgets that - but it is no longer a campaign argument. Kamala Harris redefines feminism and femininity in politics.

The pinnacle of a long journey

It's the culmination of a long journey since Democratic candidate Geraldine Ferraro ran for vice president on a ticket led by Walter Mondale in 1984. That tandem was then defeated by Ronald Reagan and his vice president, George H.W. Bush. After a long hiatus, in 2008, Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for the White House, also chooses a woman as his running mate, Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska and star of the populist Tea Party movement. An unexpected choice: the victory is won by the tandem of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state in the Obama administration and former first lady, crossed the threshold of the Democratic primaries and ran for president in 2016, winning the majority of the electoral votes in the fight against Donald Trump, but not the electoral college: another failure. Four years later, Senator from California Kamala Harris becomes the first woman elected vice president in 2020, along with Joe Biden.

Disciplined, Kamala loyally plays her role as vice president in the shadow of the president, to the point that when the possibility of octogenarian Joe Biden withdrawing from the race for a second term in early 2024 arose, Democratic supporters sighed, rolled their eyes, and resignedly accepted Kamala Harris as an alternative. because "The Democratic Party will never reject a woman, let alone a black woman." According to them, these would be the only trump cards of this vice president who failed to impose herself.

Surprise: When Joe Biden gave way to her on July 21, she stood up, ready to fight, pulling Democrats out of a deep depression. Skeptics can't believe their eyes how much it radiates. Another surprise is that even though she is feminine and a feminist, she does not use her gender card. Those who preceded her, like Hillary Clinton, may have failed, but they paved the way for her. That's off topic anymore.

The roles are changing. Kamala Harris has a natural authority thanks to her experience in the field, especially as the Attorney General of California, as well as her physical appearance. Organizers and speakers at the Democratic convention believe that the electorate is ready for a woman president if she possesses the necessary qualities. "Something is happening in America, you can feel it," exclaims Hillary Clinton at the convention in Chicago, as if finally experiencing her revenge. "Something we've been working and dreaming about for a long time". Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she sees in Kamala Harris "a leader who knows how to fight, who has proven herself, a real tough person... "I know who I want to be the next commander in chief."

After the #MeToo wave, the new battle for the right to abortion and the display of masculinity at the Republican convention in July around the very masculine Trump-J-DiVance tandem, it is no longer about winning over the female electorate, but about appeasing the male electorate. The democratic politician is not afraid to show her femininity, but it is not an aggressive femininity. She does not have to be a model mother; Kamala Harris doesn't have children, and JD Vance's criticism of childless women went over his head.

The roles are changing

Now it's up to men to highlight women, showing that it doesn't take anything away from themselves, as Barack Obama did when he acknowledged the oratorical talent of his wife, Michelle. Now it's up to husbands to support their wives, as is Doug Emhoff, husband of Kamala Harris, who boasts that he quit working to follow her. Kamala's running mate, Tim Waltz, governor of Minnesota, former football coach and ex-reserve officer, goes so far as to talk about the fertility treatments he and his wife went through in order to have their two children in his convention speech. In this campaign, the Democrats are also redefining masculinity.

Kamala Harris just as subtly uses, without emphasizing, the fact that she could be the first black or first Asian woman to be elected president. That's another message from her dark blue suit and classic hairstyle. In Chicago on Wednesday, Michelle Obama wore a beautiful Afro-braided hairstyle, something she never did when she was first lady; she recently admitted that she did not have the courage to do so, so as not to further emphasize the black identity of the family that was staying in the White House at the time. In 2024, the "new era" of Kamala Harris, in the post-Black Lives Matter movement, is undergoing a more subdued approach to identity politics.