Column
Women Shouldn’t Have to be Afraid of Running for Office
The problem of nude photos just adds to the hurdles women have always faced when running for office
In a closed door leadership meeting last week, Nancy Pelosi bemoaned the loss of Katie Hill, the California Congresswoman who resigned after her ex-husband revealed naked photos and a relationship with a campaign staffer. “It goes to show you, we should say to young candidates, and to kids in kindergarten really, be careful when transmitting photos,” the House speaker said.
It may seem like common sense advice, and it’s certainly a sentiment we’ve heard before. But here’s the thing: If nude or explicit photos make a person ineligible to run for office, we’re going to be hard pressed to find many young people — young women, especially — who will pass that test going forward.
Like it or not, most young Americans are sending or receiving nudes — some research puts it at more than 80% of younger people. And while both men and women partake in sharing nude photos, it’s overwhelmingly women who are shamed for it. Even when men illegally publish or share explicit pictures of their female partners — as seems to be the case with Hill — it’s women who bear the brunt of the consequences.
