Despite Trump's victory, some voters maintain hope for a female president: "Harris was the right choice, but it wasn't the right time"

In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to be nominated by a major party for president, lost to Donald Trump, echoing Hillary Clinton's defeat in 2016.

The election of the first female president was viewed as a significant milestone in women's progress in leadership and society, but now, many women are questioning the impact of gender on the outcome and what it means for the future.

The election of the first female president did not strongly motivate people to vote. Only 10% of voters considered the historic potential of the Harris campaign the most important factor in their decision, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of over 120,000 voters nationwide between Oct. 28 and Nov. 5. An additional 25% considered it an important factor but not decisive.

In 2024, Harris received 48.1% of the over 140 million votes cast in the United States, as reported by NBC News.

Despite the disappointment of many Harris supporters and their concerns about the future of female candidates, political analysts, academics, and U.S. women remain optimistic that America will soon have a female president.

'While I believe a woman could excel as president, I am not convinced she is the most suitable candidate.'

According to NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali, author of the 2022 book "Electable: Why America Hasn't Put a Woman in the White House … Yet," the results of this year's election should not be interpreted as indicating that Americans never want a female president.

Despite her association with President Biden and a compressed campaign timeline, Harris was not perceived as the right candidate for the job by voters.

According to Vitali, many Americans were unfamiliar with Kamala Harris prior to the election, and even those who were aware of her primarily knew her as Joe Biden's vice president, an unpopular incumbent.

""Harris only had 107 days to run a successful campaign, but forming your own political identity is crucial for any candidate, regardless of gender," Vitali emphasizes."

Nearly 30% of voters expressed a desire for significant changes in the country's governance, according to AP VoteCast. As a young woman who has become the first Gen Z woman to hold public office in the U.S., 26-year-old Bushra Amiwala of Chicago is passionate about increasing female representation in government. However, she admits that she struggled with her decision to vote for Vice President Harris, ultimately taking several weeks to make up her mind.

As a Muslim American, the Israel-Palestine conflict is an important issue to Amiwala, which made her feel indecisive about Harris because she has been part of the same administration involved in the conflict.

Amiwala's optimism that the U.S. could elect its first female president soon has not been diminished by Harris' loss. "I think Americans are ready for a woman president, it just wasn't meant to be Harris," Amiwala says. "I'm excited to see what the 2028 election holds."

JoyAnna Chabaka, a 48-year-old real estate broker in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, viewed Trump as a strong leader and family man. Although she desires to see a woman in the White House, she didn't believe Harris was the best fit for the role.

She believes a woman could excel as president but doubts if she is the suitable candidate.

She felt that the Harris campaign's messaging around the vice president's race and identity was inauthentic, despite her desire to support him as someone who is also biracial.

"She might have had a good message in the campaign, but I think it got lost in some of the culture or identity politics her team used," Chabaka says. "That's where she lost me."

""Like me, Chabaka struggled with the fact that she wasn't a mom and didn't understand the challenges of being a parent in the current economy under her administration," he says."

'People still don't trust us to lead'

Women leaders in high political positions face a dilemma: if they exhibit traditional displays of power, they risk being labeled as too direct or aggressive, while if they appear agreeable and friendly, they may be criticized as weak, incompetent, and lightweight.

Throughout the election, Harris, a woman of color, faced both racist and sexist tropes.

"Vitali explains that while some individuals did not vote for Harris due to her politics or frustration with Biden, others may not be aware of their unconscious bias against voting for a woman, particularly a woman of color."

Bowman, a 46-year-old human resources executive in New York, believes that Harris' defeat was due to her identity as a Black and South Asian woman. As a Black woman herself, Bowman understands the struggle of working "twice as hard for half the recognition."

"Harris' loss confirmed to me that even with a perfect resume, a woman of color will still be perceived as less qualified than a white man with a criminal record due to gender and skin color," she says. "The millions of people who voted for Trump showed that they want a country that prioritizes men and whiteness."

A 29-year-old project manager from Charlotte, North Carolina, experienced the same heartache as Alejandra Toro.

After the election, Toro filmed a "get ready with me" TikTok video through tears, as she does every morning. She posted it in hopes of comforting other disheartened women.

Within hours, her video garnered more than 4 million views.

"If Harris, who is smart, well-spoken, and experienced, was not considered qualified enough, who would be? Toro expressed this sentiment to CNBC Make It. As a woman of color, it is disheartening to feel that people still do not trust us to lead."

'Maybe a Republican woman would see greater success'

According to Laura Kray, a psychologist and director of the Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership at UC Berkley's Haas School of Business, sexism played a small but significant role in hindering Harris's success.

According to Kray, when people consider the most influential individuals globally, they typically associate this with men who control resources, while the most powerful women often possess more social status than actual power. Kray highlights the Harris campaign's active presence on TikTok and the endorsements she received from celebrities with massive, devoted fan bases, such as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.

The election results suggest that our society is more comfortable with women in supporting roles rather than primary decision-makers or controlling resources.

The advancement towards gender parity in the U.S. government has been sluggish and erratic. Despite this, women hold less than 25% of governorships and under 30% of seats in Congress, as per the Center for American Women and Politics.

Despite numerous exit polls and articles attempting to determine the main reason for Trump's victory and Harris's loss, Kray believes it is too early to make a definitive conclusion.

"Although we can analyze the specifics of these candidates, we won't know what ultimately led one to win and the other to lose," she remarks. "The Democrats have managed to elect a woman as vice president, but not as president. Perhaps a Republican woman would have more success in a presidential election."

Vitali claims that female candidates from all parties encounter an "imagination barrier," which makes it difficult for voters to picture a woman as president due to underlying biases, complicating their campaigns.

Despite the outcome of the election, Vitali views Harris' candidacy as a positive change.

"A woman ran for the highest office in the land and millions of Americans voted for her, regardless of her gender. This is a positive thing," she says.

"She's broadening the perspective of what people can envision in the Oval Office, regardless of the outcome."

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