This just in! I’m a woman voter.
Apparently this says something about me, and politicians believe they can use this information to appeal to me.The first thing it says about me is that I like pretty pink fonts. Who knew?
Scott Brown says I should like him because he has daughters and is nice. Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama say I should like them because abortions. I also heard a rumor that Mitt Romney tried to woo me by not yelling at the President Monday night about Libya.
So what’s a lady voter to do?
That would be a legitimate question if female voters were a monolith, but we’re not. But don’t all women care about their kids? Not those who don’t have any. Don’t all women want to end discrimination against women? Not those who don’t believe it exists. Don’t all women want everybody to be nice all the time? Not those who have seen the value of being aggressive in getting things done. Don’t all women want birth control and abortions? If you don’t know the answer you haven’t been paying attention, either to the preceding paragraph, or the world.
Women disagree on things! (And for what it’s worth, so do men, and Catholics, and secular voters, and white voters, and black voters, and on and on). If I felt it would do any good, I would offer this advice: stop pandering to different groups, be a person of principle and integrity who’s not beholden to any partisan litmus test, and show me you can lead.
Since we’re talking politics, I’m sure there’s someone who disagrees with me (woman or man) so tell me why in the comments.
While I completely understand and to some extent agree with your critique of trying to target particular voting groups exactly because no segment is exactly the same, I also think that the position doesn’t quite address the actual implications of the election (at least based on information available to date) on policies that most directly affect women. For example, while some women may not believe that employment discrimination exists (and that’s fine and dandy so long as you don’t live in the world where women make less money than men for the same jobs), the reality is that there is a distinction among the men running for President — President Obama supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Mitt Romney does not.
Along policy issues directly related to gender (e.g., employment, reproductive rights, etc.) there are clear distinctions between the positions that Obama and Romney have and the policies they would support. So, while not each of those issues might be equally important or recognized by different women, in this particular election many of those issues are relevant because in the last year the GOP has made them politically relevant (a silly strategy for a party under-represented by women in comparison to the Democrats, but whatever).
So, in the last several elections these kinds of issues have largely been non-issues and identity pandering has been exactly that — identity pandering. However, with regard to women in this election, it’s more than pandering — it is and should be a serious consideration for female voters based on an informed understanding of what each of these candidates has/ is openly supporting on things that affect us.
I think you’re right on the money about the “women’s issues” – which of course also affect men, and about which men also care. I didn’t really touch that in the post because I feared I’d botch it, and I’m glad to see I didn’t need to because I had you to write it all out so thoughtfully! There is some cognitive dissonance in the recognition that these women’s issues don’t necessarily matter to all female voters.
Ah, target marketing… tough when the target is half of the whole and when the groups intersect (black & woman, Catholic & man). Regardless of the qualifier you put in front of “voter” every vote counts the same… and THAT is what truly matters.
Amen! I’m glad to hear from someone on the marketing side. I understand that it’s the nature of the beast. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Oddly enough I haven’t gotten crap from either campaign. (And I signed up to vote as independent.) Go figure.