“Mr. Vice President, I’m Speaking”: How Kamala Harris’ Performance in the Debate Can Teach Us All Something New

By: Anna Everhart

For some, watching the vice presidential debate was a casual activity with friends and sparked little more than conversation about the fly in Mike Pence’s hair or their opposite takes on climate change policy.  But, for many women this event brought up familiar emotions that run far deeper than a couple days of twitter memes and discourse.  

We got the message that not even rising up to the level of vice presidential nominee for the Democratic party makes you immune to the sexist actions so many of us experience on a daily basis.  No wonder when I find myself in a group project with more men than women, I always end up either ignored, discounted, or mansplained to.  We have seen that women can be treated the same way with the whole country watching-- and very few people even calling it out. 

Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, we watched with awe as Harris shut this down continually with a simple “I am speaking”, and it made me think about why I and so many other women hesitate to say things like that in daily life.  There are so many things that run through my head when these things happen.  If I respond, will I seem difficult? Aggressive? What if I’m wrong? 

I hope that this display of composure and refusal to back down in the face of a more influential person on such a national scale will inspire other women to do the same.  We all deserve to take up space and have our voices heard.