As the long ride known as the 2024 election comes to an end, I noticed a pattern throughout: most people tend to refer to Kamala Harris as Kamala rather than Harris. And so I began to wonder why. Was it because she is a woman or do people just think it sounds better?
Joe Biden is referred to as Biden, Donald Trump is referred to as Trump, Barack Obama is referred to as Obama, and so on. But for some reason, Kamala Harris is most commonly referred to as Kamala.
But this isn’t new. We also saw this during the election of 2016, with Hillary Clinton, the first time a woman ever ran for president, but she was referred to by most as Hillary instead of Clinton. You could make the claim that this may be because her husband, Bill Clinton, was president in the late ‘90s, but that claim can’t be made for Harris.
Of course not always is Harris referred to as Kamala, news shows and newspapers still have to be accurate and correctly use the term Harris. But across social media and debates, she is commonly referred to as Kamala.
Trump filed a lawsuit against Harris for an interview she had where throughout, he referred to her as Kamala. “To paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness,” Trump states in his lawsuit. This seems highly unprofessional and even diminishing to her role as a political leader.
As for social media, many people, both for and against Harris, continue to refer to her as Kamala. In one instance, Billy Eichner had a video on his hit channel “Billy on the Street”, that featured him and Will Ferrel wearing shirts that said “Loud White Men for Kamala.” While this skit is meant to be comedic and uplifting for Harris supporters, the use of her first name still implies an unequal balance between men and women in power.
There are numerous videos of Tik Tok content creators going around asking people whether they are voting for Kamala or Trump, stated exactly like that. Even in Harris’ newest Saturday Night Live appearance the night before the election, Harris and Maya Rudolph, playing Harris in the skit, sit and rhyme words with Kamala. “Now Kamala, take my Pamala…” Rudolph says. The rhymes continue throughout the skit, and I’ll admit that Harris is less fun to rhyme with, but it still has that underlying tone of unprofessionalism.
Now it isn’t really about the name, it’s about what it means. When we use someone’s last name, it shows professionalism, and it shows respect. When we use Kamala instead of Harris it takes away her power, and it shows disrespect. But this never happens to the men who run for president, just the women.
Many people have said that this election wasn’t about Harris vs. Trump, it was about whether or not you respect and support women. Following the election results, many celebrities who endorsed Harris took to social media. Billie Eilish was among them, reposting the statement: “It’s a war on women.” People saw this election as having the potential to create more gender equality, but when Trump won, they realized all the work still to be done. The use of Kamala is just one example of the disrespect women receive.
An avid Trump supporter, Nick J. Fuentes, a cis, straight, white male with a YouTube channel, made a video after Trump’s win where he said, “Men win again, and yes, we control your bodies.” Fuentes and other men hiding in Tik Tok comment sections have taken a liking to the phrase: “Your body, MY choice.” Others have commented on videos where women state their disappointment of the election results with something along the lines of, “oh well, go make me a sandwich.” Seeing everyone joke about the election results and make fun of women for being upset about it is another example of the disrespect and derision they experience.
Women as a whole have come so far throughout history but if this election has shown us anything it is that there is still so much to go. The struggle for women in power continues but not forever.
