Redefining Dominance: Women, Debate, and Political Power

Eden Hoover | 5 min read

A 16 year old girl walks across the crowded quad of the University of Kentucky. She has spent hundreds of hours researching, practicing, and preparing for an inevitably difficult tournament against the top 118 debaters in the world. She is prepared to lose, prepared to learn, but nothing could have prepared her for the feedback she would receive.

Second speaker’s cross fires appeared weak, rendering the aff’s arguments ineffective. Needs to work on perceptual dominance. 

The now-defeated 16 year old girl walks away without a clue what the word “strength” means to her. Constantly toeing the line between being too aggressive and too weak, young girls in the national debate circuit are expected to uphold a standard of perfection that their counterparts are not. To act “dominant” in the political setting is something any girl debater—any girl—can master, but dominance as a concept has only ever come to us in the form of a man. 

This year, two years later, another woman battled to redefine what it means to be dominant. 

“She’s crazy, she’s nuts.” “DEI hire.” “She became a black person.” “Childless cat women.” “Barely competent.” “Not smart enough.” “Dumb as a rock.” Trump and Vance’s comments regarding the Democratic presidential nominee’s ability to perform in political leadership reflected not her capability as a potential President, but her failure to be dominant on the National stage. Albeit baseless claims, they demonstrated the gendered mockery made of women in leadership. Scrutiny pertaining to Vice President Harris’ clothing, laugh, and intelligence is nothing new in the world of politics nor is it in the world of debate. 

Debating for the last four years of my life on the National Debate Circuit in Public Forum, I have become accustomed to few who look like me. Women are distinctly underrepresented in the activity, highlighting both external influences that lead them to doubt their ability to participate and the significant challenges they face in achieving success. This past year, just three of the top 20 competitors in the national high school rankings identify as women. Only one of the top ten nationally ranked teams is a girl-girl duo. Although the activity has progressed significantly from 2016, when not a single girl cracked the top twenty list, debate remains a biased system favoring a definition of “dominance” women are never meant to meet. 

I have been told to smile a countless number of times. I have been told to be more dominant only to be labeled as overly “bitchy”. Whether it be skirts or dress-pants, I have been ridiculed by my choice of attire in every single outfit I have ever debated in. I have been belittled by my male opponents, typically twice my height and two years my senior. I have been laughed at by audiences. I have been called bitchy, timid, aggressive, unassertive, arrogant, weak, and everything in between by both my male competitors and the judges themselves. There is a stark divide between the language they use to critique my performance versus my male partner’s, and such gendered criticisms are echoed in the political arena today. 

Kamala, a woman of color, represented much more than the Democratic presidential nominee: she was and still is a symbol of hope for millions of girls, like me, who watched every step of her campaign. As November 5th approached, we found ourselves watching closely, wondering if the public would ever be truly prepared to embrace leaders who look and talk like us. Harris was not able to draw upon the passion or anger that Trump is so often applauded for, just as I cannot speak as loudly as my male counterparts are so often praised for. And although female debaters have adapted, lowering their voices and perfecting their tone, the systemic prejudice remains. Kamala Harris needed voters the same way I need a judge’s ballot: every debater faces the task of winning over an audience, whether it's one judge or the entire nation. 

According to Webster’s Dictionary, dominance is “1: The fact or state of being dominant: such as a. sociology : controlling, prevailing, or powerful position especially in a social hierarchy.” They continue to cite the following examples: “male dominance — political dominance — companies competing for dominance in the market — dominance over their rivals.” 

We are changing that definition. The word “dominance” itself entails there is an entity to dominate over. To close the gender gap in politics and debate, we must eliminate our inclination toward domination, as it has no place among the qualities that define an effective leader let alone a good person. From an auditorium to the oval office, girls everywhere are redefining leadership.

Leadership (noun). Lead-er-ship. 1: the office or position of a leader. 2: the capacity to lead. 3: the act or instance of leading. Examples: female leadership — political leadership — women excelling in leadership roles.