Are we about to enter an post-gender society?

No. Not at all. Both myself and Gloria Steinem believe that, she further explored this in this interview with NPR. Essentially she argues that, should Clinton win the election in November, it won't solve sexism. 

A woman in the Whitehouse doesn’t inherently mean much if she doesn’t represent the ideals of most American women; Steinem says that if Sarah Palin were president, it would most likely be detrimental to American women (if not women everywhere in my opinion.)

In the same vain a black man in the Whitehouse doesn’t mean much if he doesn’t represent the beliefs of black men. Throughout the article Steinem praises the Obama family and administration for their work forwarding black communities. I would argue the only thing Obama has done to help the average black citizen is win the presidency. While he has given plenty of speeches and acknowledged the public outcry of Black Americans around the country, he hasn’t passed the necessary legislation and made the efforts necessary to truly help Black Americans.

I agree with Steinem in that a representative has to represent their demographics beliefs, they have to be willing to put those beliefs into action. I have no doubt that Barack Obama sees the racial divide in our country as a genuine issue; that movements like Black Lives Matter are the modern Civil Rights Movement, he hasn’t put in the work in the past 8 years. Obama is a Black figurehead, while that isn’t a bad thing by any means, who cares about being in a position of power if you aren’t using that power to dismantle the social structures that keep YOUR people in social chains.

I worry, and I think Steinem does too, that Clinton will repeat this pattern. Being the Commander in Chief in many ways makes one the most powerful person in the world. Having minorities in that position is an amazing thing, but it doesn’t mean much if you don’t do the work that needs doing.

NPR: Steinem: For Feminism, A Clinton Win Would Be Helpful But 'Only One Step'

Moving Beyond the Two-Party System

In this New York Times piece, Howard Dean, former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential candidate, writes about the issues he sees with a bipartisan America and one possible solution. A two party system creates a strict divide between Americans; politics has become Democrats versus Republicans, as opposed to two parties working together to represent different ideas of the people. In election years like this one, voters are faced with a choice that many views as choosing between the lesser of two evils. This stark divide has disincentivized many from voting in the election period. Speaking for myself, I plan on voting despite not adoring either candidate. However, I see the situation and have decided to vote with my conscious as best as I can, given the circumstances.

Dean discusses how many people are voting independent because they are unhappy with the main party choices of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. However one could argue that because the bipartisan system is so ingrained into our political culture, that voting outside of it is wasting your vote. In order to diminish this issue, Dean proposes we adopt ranked choice voting. Currently, we pick the candidate we like the most, easy peasy but not necessarily the best idea. Ranked choice voting would mean instead of choosing one candidate, voters would rank the candidates from most to least favorable. The candidate with the highest sum total would then go on to be elected. For example, say one wanted to vote for Clinton and there’s no way in hell they wanted to vote for Trump. They could rank Clinton highest, then Gary Johnson, then Jill Stein, and lastly Trump. Not only would Clinton get the most “points” but Trump would get the least; more importantly Johnson and Stein, who are favored over Trump in the situation, are also given a chance to be more competitive.

Some countries and states have already implemented ranked choice voting. Dean proposes, and I agree, that implementing ranked choice voting on a local and state level will show congress its value. Potentially in elections to come we won’t be faced with as polarizing a decision as we will be in November.

RE:  Howard Dean, How to Move Beyond the Two-Party System, The New York Times