Kayla Carmenia Final Inquiry Project

7/30/2019 Kayla Carmenia Final Inquiry Project

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Extended Inquiry Project

How will the currently deemed War on Women affect the outcome of the 2012 presidential

election?

Kayla Carmenia

Professor Malcolm Campbell


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Kayla Carmenia

Instructor: Malcolm Campbell

English 1103

11/8/12

How will the currently deemed War on Women affect the outcome of the 2012

presidential election?

The United States of America is caught in the whirlwind of political drama, action, and

news. As the media and public discuss the upcoming 2012 presidential in job offices,

restaurants, college campuses, radio and television stations, and in the homes of waiting and

anxious American citizens, a numerous amount wonder about the outcome of this significant

event. What could cause such a powerful impact on the country? This would be, nonetheless,

the impending current presidential election looming over the minds of the people in the United

States, and those inhabiting the rest of the world. A subject that is at the forefront of Barack

Obamas and Mitt Romneys campaign debates is the discussion of womens rights. But

waitwomen are considered as equal as men, having the same rights and, virtually, nothing to

be anxious about in the land of the freeright? This is wrong, for despite the many gains

women have made in the past half century, yet again, America has found itself faced with

potential setbacks in fundamental issues, including the future of its healthcare, equal wages, and

perhaps the most controversial, abortion. In response to this War on Women, both sides of the

political spectrum continue to press the candidates for how their policies will affect womens

rights issues. All of the political pressure and public debate leads to this question: How will the


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women of the United States of America, and the present-day crusade for modern American

womens rights, affect the decision of electing next President of the United States of America?

The Background of Feminist Political Activity

There is indeed great inquiry into the thought of female voters and their influences on the

current presidential election. With this idea come the implications of past elections, and the

subsequent roles that American women played in determining the critical leadership roles of the

United States government. One particular case study formed in the basis of the academic journal

article Prospects for Renewed Feminist Activism in the Heartland: A Study of Daytonian

Womens Politics showcases this phenomenon, focusing on the voting patterns of women in the

town of Montgomery County in Ohio. Throughout the article, descriptions of the most common

interests, concerns, and agreements among the issues that were categorized as those that

influence American women to the greatest extent were explored. The high level of feminist

activity evident in the state of Ohio, more specifically in Dayton, Ohio, known as the heartland

of America, was the inspiration behind the conduction of this research. Data collected was set

and proportioned to the general opinion of the rest of the nation. According to authors Anne

Sisson Runyan and Mary V. Wenning, Nevertheless, there is evidence that women in the

county, like women in the nation, share a common interest in better healthcare as the most

important womens issue, thus, health is a central issue around which they can organize across

their divides" (1). Relative to this instance is the fact that healthcare, as well as the instances

that surround womens health, has been one of the catalysts for the power behind the War on

Women, exhibiting the validity of the data collected in the research completed in Montgomery

County.


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Another town known for its strength in female political activity would be in Santa Clara

County, California. In fact, according to Janet A. Flammang, author of the bookWomens

Political Voice: How Women Are Transforming the Practice and Study of Politics, For a time in

the 1980s, Santa Clara County was known as the feminist capital of the nation (35). The

statistics of the amount of women who voted, and actively enrolled in the political activity were

superior. With the amount of feminists and their political influence, came their Progressive

ideals and impact on significant events affecting Santa Clara County. The Progressive

movement that took place during this time and area was fueled exactly by this feminist capital

and the participants involved in it. According to Flammang, Womens key role in the moral

reform, settlement house, and Progressive movements made them no friend of the liquor

industry, which sent huge sums of money to defeat state and local referenda for womens

suffrage, for fear that women would use the vote to ban common rum (39). This occurrence

provides insight into the role feminists, parallel to the current dedicated modern female

supporters against the War on Women, can place themselves into to alter the governing of a

region. If this is proven in the state of California in the early twentieth century, may todays

feminists prove to be as adequate and influential in the current presidential election? This

instance in particular strongly supports this claim, as in the same manner at which Santa Clara

feminists progressively affected the alcohol industry in California; modern-day Americans could

transition the direction of the results of the 2012 presidential election.

Political participation is yet another aspect relevant to the past and present of womens

rights and its influences on presidential elections. How impactful are female voters to the

process of political activity? Flammang took notice of the study done by researcher Diane

Margolis on the division of labor in party organizations in a small Connecticut town in 1974


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(138). According to the findings by Margolis, Women spent as much time on political activity

and logged three times as many separate political interactions as men. There were similarities

between family sex roles and the parts played out in the political arena. Women were task-

oriented and measured political performance by completed tasks; men were more concerned with

enhancing their self-esteem through their inclusion in the decision-making process (138). As

feminists were the driving force behind the political activity in the small Connecticut town, the

proportional amount of women involved in the voting process during the current presidential

election is unchanging. Therefore, matters have been taken into the hands of both of the

presidential candidates, as well as their affiliating parties, to ensure progression and satisfy many

of the overwhelming issues still affecting women in modern-day America.

Political Parties Crusade for Votes Based on the Opinions of Female Voters

A foundation of concern for both of the political parties and their presidential candidates

has been unwavering in the importance of the general perspectives of modern American women.

A radio interview conducted on National Public Radio (NPR) exemplified the present-day

occurrences transpiring on the journey to obtain the likings of American women. The host of the

interview, Audie Cornish, spoke to renowned political expert, journalist, analyst, and National

Public Radios national political consultant, Mara Liasson, concerning the statements created by

Democratic consultant Hilary Rosen, as well as going into depth about the impact the women

will make in the upcoming election. A prediction was examined as well as to whose liking the

level of female political activity will go for, that is for either the Democratic or Republican

parties. According to Liasson, Some polls had President Obama 20 points over Romney with

women. This is the biggest problem Romney needs to fix (npr.org). This insightful interview

also reveals the extent to which women are playing in this particular presidential campaign, that


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is, how large of a political footprint they have created in determining the results of this current

political event.

A travel into the various types of issues the presidential candidates must address to sway

the likings of female voters is particularly important to make notice of. After all, one must

understand what exactly the supporters against the War on Women are fighting for? When

this accomplished, there exists the various perspectives of those who may contemplate if

American women really have anything to fight for? Is there even a battle to begin with? A

contemplation of how distinctive policies and regulations affect females, as well as individuals of

the minority race, is accomplished in the article Do Current Drug Laws and Policies

Discriminate against Minorities and Women? This article was formatted in a way to list the

positive and negative claims being created based on the inquiry question. It is noted that more

support outpoured from the side of the pros, in which many experts agreed that current

administration does show biasness toward individuals of the female and minority race caliber.

Statements such as Federal and state drug laws and policies over the past twenty years have had

specific, devastating, and disparate effects on women, and particularly women of color and low

income women... and The problem of women in prison is directly tied to current US drug

policy. For the past ten years, researchers have argued that the war on drugs has become a war on

women.... The Bureau of Prisons reports that almost 80% of their female population is

incarcerated for drug-related offenses..... indicate the level of concern for modern American

women in this current society (procon.org). With the issues that continuously swirl around the

War on Women, careful steps are being made by the presidential shoulders to provide, in a

metaphorical sense, a shoulder to cry on, for modern women of the United States. In turn, the

most consoling candidate will earn the votes from a tremendous amount of women.


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Responses to the War on Women and its Impact on American Womens Votes

The existence of what has been claimed as a fight for modern womens rights has indeed

not transpired without an effect on the campaigning of both of the Democratic and Republican

parties. President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, as well as their affiliating political

parties, have taken winning the votes and favor of the majority of American women into one of

their main points of campaigning. Winning the votes of females was an accomplishment

essential to President Obamas election into office back in 2008; therefore, attaining and swaying

the vote of American women is a tactic that he has emphasized in gaining yet again. Women,

thus far in the presidential election, have been exercising their rights to vote in record numbers.

Each of the presidential candidates prepared for this instance and refused to allow this aspect to

simply slide by in ignorance.

The second presidential debate that aired recently on October 16, 2012, addressed the

candidates with questions concerning womens rights and significant issues critical to American

women, such as healthcare. The debate shifted into discussion surrounding the employment for

women, as well as healthcare benefits available to them, such as their access to contraceptives.

Much of the conversation displayed in this debate seemed to attempt to go into the favor of the

female voters, using methods of persuasion in order to make what they were attempting to

explain sound satisfying to the ears of the undecided women voters. Both of the political figures

seemed to give their all to appeal to the women of the audience, indicating how critical the

influence of the feminist political activity is in this current presidential election. Women are

increasingly the breadwinners of the family, stated President Barack Obama, as he orated about

the Lilly Ledbetter Bill, ensuring equal wages for men and women. The first bill I signed, was

called the Lilly Ledbetter Bill he confidently continued, it was named after this amazing


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woman who had been doing the same job as a man for years, found out that she was getting paid

less, and the Supreme Court said that she couldnt bring suit because she should have found out

about it earlier, but she had no way of finding out about itThis is not just a womens issue, its

a family issue, its a middle class issue. Thats why weve got to fight for it. Governor Mitt

Romney utilized his orating methods to appeal to the female voters as well during the second

presidential debate. He tells a short story when he was a state governor in which many of the

applicants applying for a position in the cabinet were men. He inquired into figuring out how to

obtain female applicants for the position, stating I went to a number of womens groups asking

can you find folks? And they broughtbinders full of women, showcasing his efforts to exhibit

concern and determination to have more women included in the lists of applications. Romney

continues in explaining to the females listening intently in the audience how beneficial he would

deem to the women of the United States as president. Mine had more women in senior

leadership positions than any other state in America he adds in describing his states high level

of upper-level women in occupations. Both of the presidential candidates showcase the critical

roles women are playing in this current presidential election. In turn, American women are

revealing their strong influence on the United States government, as well as the intricate election

process.

To let women do or to not let women do has unanimously been one of the front-running

topics of the current American campaign. Some things have not changed, and this instance just

happens to be one of those things. Birth control, healthcare, and the allowance or not allowing

of abortion have been and continues to be one of the previous hotly debated topics in the earlier

years of the history of America. Employment and wages in work places, as previously

examined, is another area of worry pertaining to the rights of women in the past as well as in


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contemporary American society. What has changed, however, is the strength of influence that

modern American women contain in the presidential elections. Their impact and the awareness

of their struggles have continuously grown throughout American history until this very date, in

which in the current presidential election, their concerns are the star in the theatre of

campaigning. Therefore, it is of logical reasoning and knowledge to come to the consensus that

the election of the Commander-in-Chief will majorly rely on the political participation of

American women. Female voters alike will very well be the strongest influence upon who is

chosen into office. As the election continues to transpire and evolve, with the background of

American feminism, oration of the War on Women, and ultimately making their stance known

to the world, the women of the United States of America will essentially rock the vote.


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Works Cited

Cornish, Audie, and Mara Liasson. "Political 'War On Women' A War For Women's Votes."

Npr.org. National Public Radio, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

"Do Current Drug Laws and Policies Discriminate against Minorities and Women? ACLU

ProCon.org."Do Current Drug Laws and Policies Discriminate against Minorities and

Women? ACLU ProCon.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Flammang, Janet A. Women's Political Voice: How Women Are Transforming the Practice and

Study of Politics. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1997. Print.

Runyan, Anne Sisson, and Mary V. Wenning. "Prospects for Renewed Feminist Activism in the

Heartland: A Study of Daytonian Women's Politics."NWSA Journal 16.3 (2004): 180-

214. Print.

TheNewYorkTimes. "Complete Second Presidential Town Hall Debate 2012: Barack Obama vs.

Mitt Romney. Oct 16, 2012." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2012.

Documents

Kayla Carmenia Final Inquiry Project