'Where Is Nancy?': How Threats Against Women in Power Are Tied to Threats Against Democracy
(a lengthy, disturbing read)
‘Where Is Nancy?’: How Threats Against Women in Power Are Tied to Threats Against Democracy
11/1/2022 by Barbara Rodriguez, The 19th and Jennifer Gerson, The 19th
The attack on Paul Pelosi by an assailant who was looking for the House speaker highlights the vitriol targeting women in power.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi with her husband Paul Pelosi (right) and U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Philip Reeker on Sept. 16, 2021 in London. Pelosi is has been the top House Democrat since 2003 and is the only woman to ever serve as speaker. (Getty Images Europe)
This story was originally published by The 19th.
The man charged with breaking into the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and assaulting her husband was reportedly yelling, “Where is Nancy?” echoing some of those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That question—and the suspected targeting of one of the most powerful women in American politics—points to a form of violent misogyny that is part and parcel of larger threats to American democracy, say experts who study and track gendered political violence. Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency, has long been the focus of negative political ads and campaign rhetoric. But the attacks have become more layered with threats of violence and misogyny, and social media has allowed them to spread more easily. It’s both dangerous to Pelosi and other women in positions of power and discouraging to women who might otherwise run for office, experts say.
“Certainly Nancy Pelosi has long been a very obvious public figure and has long been a target for those on the right—partly because of her positions, but certainly because of her gender, which has played a role in the way she is talked about and how much vitriol is directed her way,” Jean Sinzdak, an associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) told The 19th. “It’s easy to be dismissive and say, ‘Oh well of course you get animosity directed your way because you’re in a leadership role.’ But there is a gender-based element that goes way further than that in someone breaking into her personal space and feeling entitled to be violent against her,” Sinzdak said.
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Sobieraj said the attack on Pelosi’s spouse may have a ripple effect on the future participation of people who are willing to enter careers in elected office. “Whether you are a left or right, it is a mistake not to take an attack like this seriously—not only because of the danger to the person attacked, but because of the danger to the health of our elections and our democracy more generally,” she said. “We absolutely need civil service to be a career that people can enter and engage in. You should not have to fear for your life to serve in public office.”
Krook said it’s important that people in positions of political power and others publicly call out threats of gendered violence to combat it. She said otherwise, its normalization will only worsen conditions for people who aren’t at the highest level of government.
“It’s women at all levels of American politics—governors, women in statehouses, women in local politics, mayors. We are seeing it with election administrators,” she said. “It’s really about women playing a whole wide range of political roles. We just see it more when it’s somebody like Nancy Pelosi.”
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https://msmagazine.com/2022/11/01/nancy-paul-pelosi-violence-women/