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CONLEY COMMENTARY – The irony of Kamala Harris appearing in Milwaukee with Cardi B in the closing days of the campaign should be lost on no one. Both women send a horrible message to young women today: Glam onto powerful men, and you just might make it. That’s the closing message of her campaign.
If you don’t know who Cardi B is, she was a teenage stripper from the Bronx. She parlayed taking off her clothing and social media into a very successful rap career. It’s a shockingly similar narrative to a younger Kamala Harris, then 24 years old, who began dating 60-year-old and married Willie Brown. He appointed her to her first political posts in California and launched her political career.
The Cardi-Kamala message to young women is this: If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Show it off. Take it off if you have to. Some of the men you meet along the way may shower you with money or opportunities that you might otherwise not have. You’ll always have an advantage over the “good girls” who keep their clothes on.
Cardi and Kamala live in a Harvey Weinstein world. “Meet me in my hotel room and we’ll talk about your career. I’ll be waiting for you in my bathrobe with an opportunity that’s perfect for you.” Any young woman with half a brain would say, “how about we discuss it tomorrow in your office?”
I find this disgusting. I’m the father of two brilliant daughters. One was a high school valedictorian and is a mechanical engineer. The other is in college, pursuing a career in education. If it’s ever suggested to either of them that they have to ‘play a little’ to get ahead, I hope they get a good lawyer.
And I hope tomorrow that Kamala Harris learns that her ceiling will always be limited based on the way her political career started. That’s one of the most important lessons her defeat will teach to our daughters.
Chris Conley
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