Kamala Harris is a brat. She is the gardener of our communal coconut tree. do not have Or, as we harvest apples from our apple trees, did If you live by British icon Charlie XCX’s philosophy, it’s KamalaminomenonThese are the words of rising pop star Chapel Roan.
When President Biden announced he was stepping down from the campaign trail, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who was seen as the best choice to succeed him in the 2024 presidential election. It was clear that Harris’ team was gearing up for a shake-up., The Biden/Harris HQ social media branding has been updated to read:ChartreuseA spot appeared on screens a few days later, blaring “Green Kamala HQ” and the inspiring tune from Beyoncé’s “Freedom.” Fundraising records smashed in 24 hours after Biden’s announcement.
The presidential candidates seemed to be making new claims in direct response to what the Biden administration represents: an older candidate and his equally older opponent who are simply out of step with what voters under 34 want. Brats, feminine language, and coconut trees were Kamala’s — or Harris’s — weapons. They were Harris’ — or Kamala’s — new PR strategy.
Therein lies the problem (or at least one of the problems): Memes and pop music aside, what should supporters call the vice president? “Vice President” certainly doesn’t garner viral likes. “Kamala HQ”? Or “Harris Campaign”?MomalaAs Drew Barrymore tried to achieve, Until now appropriate?
CNN’s embarrassing “Kamala is a Brat” segment shows why we should take Gen Z and millennial voters seriously
“It’s time to pay attention to how people are calling her. Are they calling her Kamala? If so, this is a common practice that delegitimizes female politicians. Calling politicians in a more casual and informal way makes them seem soft and uncandidate-like. This is very common in US politics,” Maggie Perkins said in the caption of the viral video. TikTok Videos From July 22. Perkins said posting “Kamala 2024” is completely different from “Harris 2024,” and drew similarities between the use of acronyms like AOC and RBG and the marketing of Stacey Abrams’ campaign: “If you think I’m overreacting, I encourage you to look at what the media is saying about her, what other politicians are saying about her.”
Non-black creators flocked to the memo, fearing they were tarnishing a potentially historic campaign and helping to trap another woman of color in the political trappings. The New York Times In response to backlash over Barrymore’s use of the word “Mammala,” an opinion piece published in May wrote, “Black women and girls spend their entire lives fleeing a society that seeks to strip them of their individuality and humanity and shoehorn them into sweeping generalizations…. In this case, the pervasive stereotype is that of the mammy: the caretaker, the chest on which we all rest, the apron on which we have a right to hang.”
The tweet may have been deleted
The tweet may have been deleted
But other people online, mostly Black women and women of color, had a different opinion. pointed To YouTube videos from 2020 In a photo of Harris making dosas with actress Mindy Kaling, Harris asked to be called “Kamala.” Her own campaign branding includes “Kamala,” they point out, and in many ways, using her first name is a reclaiming of her heritage, especially as her peers refuse to learn theirs. Correct Pronunciationand her decades-long political career. This is the least of our worries, they noted, a useless virtue signaling.
Popular creators such as early childhood educators Hahahabegan introducing followers to a series of videos posted by Erica Harrison, aka Erica Harrison. Follow“We call (politicians) by their most distinctive name. In Kamala’s case, her last name, Harris, isn’t very distinctive, but her first name is,” Harrison said. video“You’re all trying to defend her in a way that she doesn’t want to be defended, which is ironic because she has always campaigned using her first name. I understand what you’re all trying to do here, but let me be clear, white women, this is a waste of your time.”
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Harrison was one of about 44,000 Black women who attended a post-announcement online call with Win With Black Women earlier this week. Record-breaking meetings The rally brought together mostly black women activists to strategize for Harris’ campaign and discuss the way forward.
In just three days, online sentiment shifted, from a call to action that using the name “Kamala” was a form of systemic misogyny or misogyny to the idea that using her first name was a sign of cultural and political respect. Both thoughts could be true.
Sexism in election campaigns and government offices continues Immediate IssuesRecent Survey of 60 women in politics Practitioner cosmopolitan Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures has committee assignments and salary There have also been numerous reports of blatant harassment in the workplace. New American LeaderSaid cosmopolitan“Elected offices were created in the image of white landowners, and these jobs continue to be positioned in ways that support and reinforce the power structure.”
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance is currently under fire for saying that “childfree women,” including Harris, should not be in politics.
In 2015, Atlantic Ocean The author calls the trend toward “mononymy” (or the use of a single name) a trap created by “an era of informal, unconditional familiarity” in society at large and among voters in particular. For the author, the increasing tendency for political candidates to use their first names (Jeb Bush for “Jeb,” Bernie Sanders for “Bernie,” Beto O’Rourke for “Beto”) is worrying, as it moves them toward promoting themselves as celebrities. But voters have long craved the personalization of their elected leaders (and their families), and politicians, both male and female, seem to see the decision to be “first” or “last” as a marketing issue. Long before the trends of the 2000s and Harris’s “meme army,” there was a lineage of acronyms (JFK, RFK) and nicknames (“Ike” and “Teddy”) that were in many ways just as informal and just as well-known.
Every politician makes careful branding choices for their constituents that will determine whether they get into or stay in power. When made by a female leader, especially a woman of color, those decisions can have ripple effects all the way down to their fathers.
When former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2016, brandings like “I’m with Her” and “President Hillary” emphasized the familiarity and femininity of her first name. Neither of these were the official “Stronger Together” slogan. There was debate at the time: Was “Hillary” an important differentiator from her husband’s presidency, or just another way to downplay her bid to become leader of the free world?
In the days since the announcement, comparisons have already been made between Harris and Clinton’s campaigns, with parallels to other notable female historical figures making headlines, such as Shirley Chisholm, the first black person to serve as a major party nominee and the first black woman to serve as a Democratic nominee. In 1972, Chisholm campaigned on just her last name and the slogan “Not bought, not bossed.” Though similar in many ways, Harris operates in a different world than Chisholm and even Clinton, splitting her time between appealing to an honor-conscious American public and a fickle online crowd – and, of course, her current role as vice president.
And institutionalized sexism The rise of white supremacy In mainstream politics, there remain insurmountable obstacles for a progressive woman president.
Harris is a veteran politician with a vibrant core of supporters, and she clearly draws her own boundaries. According to her campaign brand, Kamala is fine; in fact, it may help her get the polls, and Harris is the professional title she uses on stage and in conventions. “Brat,” according to her cheeky Charlie Xxx-themed posts, is also a good target as her campaign launches and critics scramble to understand the “youth vote.” But personal names like “Momala” and “Auntie” are a step too far, in her words.
For now, the internet is exempt from debate. The history of racism, sexism, and misogyny in our politics, and the unfair ways in which many of our nation’s leaders have treated each other, People in positions of power don’t become fodder for TikTok, and the dispute over the name says more about our political climate, now more than ever before driven by online sentiment, than it does about the Harris campaign.
