Women's Rights and the Upcoming Election

By Lin Nguyen

August 18th, 1920 marked the ratification of the 19th amendment, granting some women the right to vote in the United States. This year, on its 100th anniversary, we continue to fight for gender equality in the upcoming election. The 2020 presidential candidates are vastly different in their positions on women’s rights, so we’ll explore those differences and what they mean for women, especially women of color.

Joe Biden.

Biden has an extensive section of his campaign website that outlines his agenda for supporting women. His promises include creating White House Council on Gender Equality after Donald Trump disbanded the White House Council on Women and Girls created by the Obama-Biden administration.

Biden also plans to help pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and strongly supports Senator Patty Murray and Congresswoman DeLauro’s Paycheck Fairness Act. There are a number of additional, actionable plans Biden has on his website that would help working pregnant mothers, end workplace harassment, and protect domestic workers.

Biden has long led on the issue of domestic violence. As a senator, he wrote the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that passed in 1994. Biden has vowed to advocate for and expand VAWA, which expired in 2019 and which the Trump administration has failed to reauthorize.

Donald Trump.

Trump doesn’t have a section on his website addressing women’s rights, and the only thing on his website addressing women is the unfortunate fact that “In his first week in office, President Trump...prevented $9 billion in foreign aid from being used to fund the abortion industry” and he overturned a bill by the Obama administration banning states from defunding abortion service providers.

Because he hasn’t addressed women’s rights, TIME Magazine outlined Trump’s statements in the past pertaining to women. On paid family leave, Trump described pregnancy as a great thing for parents but a horrible thing for a business. On child care, he said parenthood isn’t expensive, and it could easily be paid for by a company but not by the government. On multiple occasions, Trump emphasized his anti-abortion stance and his actions match this, like nominating an anti-abortion judge to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat.

Intersectionality.

Feminism supports all women and acknowledges the intersectionality of gender, race, class, sexuality, and how these combined factors have a compounding effect. Though 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote, this right has a complex history. Women of color were unable to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned racial discrimination in voting. 

For every 100 men promoted or hired for a management position, only 72 women are promoted, and this number is even lower for women of color. A Women in the Workplace report cites managerial roles as 62% male, 38% female and within that, only 12% are women of color. The disparity continues to grow as we go up the corporate ladder, exemplifying the “broken rung” holding women back.

#WhyIVote

In the past and still today, women face constant struggles in order to be recognized for their work, earn the money they’re worth, have their voices heard, and feel safe in their daily lives. These problems are multiplied for women of color that experience a larger wage gap, less representation, and higher mortality rates. 

At Money Muse, we encourage women to be the change they want to see in the world by adopting a growth mindset, committing to lifelong learning, and advocating for the rights of others (and themselves). By voting, we can do these same things for our country. We can advocate for our rights, we can take charge of this country’s future, and we can push this country forward in its growth.

Find out who’s on your ballot at vote411.org and track early voting wait times in Travis County here.