Electing to Make America Sane Again: Sexism is Really Scary!

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

It is Halloween and I am scared that our upcoming national election results will be more a trick than a treat.

One of the defining election variables seems to be gender as the New York Times article of October 23, 2024, conveyed: “Why Gender May be the Defining Issue of the Election.”¹

For Halloween, women have long been viewed as more scary, as they are the historically feared witches. Now, we have the second opportunity to elect the first woman president of our country.

Those who have studied voting patterns claim that this is a unique race where gender is so central. Predictions so far are significantly more men favoring Trump and vice versa in terms of Harris.

Misogyny in general is a concern. The most specific issue is that of women controlling their bodies in terms of abortion. Besides such sexism, another social psychopathology, genderism, is escalating once again with political attempts to deny medical assistance to those seeking gender identity change or nonconformity. Another gender concern is the apparent intersectionality with racism in the increased suicide rate of Black women.

Although having more women than men with increased concern about being able to generally obtain abortion once again makes sense from a personal point of view, having children is also a dual matter and responsibility, as when conveyed in the saying “we’re pregnant.” Men have become more involved in parenting, although they of course do not have the physical changes and challenges during the pregnancy. However, men are encountering identity and role confusion as the job market changes away from physical strength.

Ultimately, it would seem that society should benefit more from men and women viewing each other as complementary or additive, rather than as separate and competitive as now seems the situation. Trans people have also shown us that gender identity is fluid. The Halloween treat would be increased gender unity over the next year.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

Reference

1. Lerer L, Glueck K. Why gender may be the defining issue of the election. The New York Times. October 23, 2024. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/us/politics/harris-trump-election-gender.html