Yes.

 

We can’t believe it’s 2020 and we’re still having this conversation, but yes: women are electable. It’s as simple as that. Don’t just take our word for it though, we have the sources to back it up:

• 8 in 10 voters reject the idea that the country isn’t ready to elect a female president. And only 2 in 10 voters agree with the statement, “The country just isn’t ready to elect a female president and that’s not going to change in the next two years.” Source: Gender on the Ballot
• The idea that women candidates aren’t as electable as their male counterparts is a myth. Across candidate profiles tested in the latest Barbara Lee Family Foundation research, all of the hypothetical women candidates win or tie their head-to-head ballots against a straight white man of the opposite party. Source: Barbara Lee Family Foundation
• A majority of voters say they are “very ready” or “extremely ready” for a woman president. They just don’t realize that other voters are ready, too. We just need to set aside the false belief that America isn’t ready and the outdated notions of what it means to be ‘presidential’ and ‘electable.’” Source: Lean In
• Voters reject the notion that if many women were to lose their elections, it would be ominous for the electoral chances of women candidates in the future. For voters, a woman’s campaign loss does not mean the end for her political career; it can be the beginning of the next chapter. Source: Barbara Lee Family Foundation
• While there is a strong connection between perceived electability and gender, voters are most likely to select a woman for president given the opportunity. Among voters who raise gender as an issue when evaluating candidates, their concerns are not about the capability of female candidates, so much as they are about the willingness of Americans to elect a woman. Source: Avalanche Strategy
• 95% of Refinery29 readers think a woman would make a good president. But only 60% think a woman could win the election. This goes along with the findings above: people are interested in and open to voting for women, but are worried others won’t do the same. Source: Refinery29
• Between the four women senators who jumped into the 2020 presidential race, none of them have ever lost an election. On the flip side, most of the leading male candidates have lost major elections in their careers. Source: New York Times
• Electability isn’t a static fact; it’s a social construct. As the writers Rebecca Solnit and Kate Manne explain, “Part of what will make someone unelectable is people give up on them in a way that would be premature, rather than going to the mat for them… [and] is in part how much positive coverage they get, and how much positive coverage they get is tied to how the media powers decide who is electable.” Source: Literary Hub

To sum things up… women are as electable as men. Voters just need to believe it.