Why do the rural states get so much attention in political primaries? Are they a barometer of the outcome of a presidential race? Why the focus on suburban women and not on others like those in rural-dominated states like Iowa? They reason: suburban women are key swing votes in the key swing states that will determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Most rural states are already heavily red, and their electoral votes are easy to predict. That is why national polls showing Trump still appealing to many women voters need to be taken with a grain of salt. The rural population of the US is much, much smaller than urban/suburban residents, however, yet their voices are still heard disproportionately given the electoral college advantage given rural areas over more urban states. There are vast cultural differences and fewer similarities with urban/suburban voters. Lack of broadband and isolation make them more receptive to right wing media.
The Electoral College and the Rural-Urban Divide - The Aspen
Institutehttps://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/05/22/demographic-and-economic-trends-in-urban-suburban-and-rural-communities
The most important voters in America, it seems, are the least crowded (msn.com)
A word about rural women based upon personal experience and observations: I come fromagriculture eastern Oklahoma, was educated and spent post-high school life in both major urban centers, Chicago, New York, and Denver, but always with one foot still in rural America, part and full time in Grand County Colorado. Rodeo is my favorite spectator sport (football, second). I've been an exhibitor at Denver's National Western Stock Show, a participant in FFA awards banquets in my PR capacity, and with a daughter who learned sewing skills in 4-H.. Ranch wives are some of the toughest women I know, and they participate fully in every activity their physical strength allows plus mending fences and childrearing, and feeding their families. I've seen them compete in rodeo sports like team roping and dominate barrel racing. They are equal ranch hand partners with their husbands. However, they and indigenous women may not be discriminated against in office or in town occupations, but they are also victims of domestic violence, and a new focus has disappeared. indigenous women's plight recently. Where urban and suburban women differed culturally from their rural counterparts was that they often had to work outside the home to make ends meet or to satisfy their personal goals. They tend to be more educated. Equal pay and on-the-job sexual harassment are issues to which they relate. They have more contact with those of diverse racial, religious, and cultural backgrounds than their rural counterparts.
. My late husband, an ob-gyn, had practices both in Grand County and Denveer's urban front range, and he was active in supporting non-profit organizations serving victims of domestic abuse and violence, a curse that does not discriminate between urban, suburban women, ranch wives and native Americans on and off reservations. Domestic violence is common to them all. Rural women are moms and high school sweethearts, where family planning is still important. In rural areas of Oklahoma, I recall it was the "bible belt", now a culture of religious evangelicals. However, domestic violence is a crime and law enforcement issue where ever. women live, and it is not always a women's rights issue of choice and gender equality that resonates politically...
Bridging the Gap between Urban, Suburban, and Educational History (trincoll.edu)
How urban, suburban and rural residents’ view social and political issues | Pew Research Center
Sexual Violence and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women | RAINN
No comments:
Post a Comment