Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to dissect the political rhetoric of the 2024 presidential election to understand the bipartisan divide of the United States and the importance of voting, a panel of UC Santa Barbara researchers stressed earlier this month.

“A woman of color running for the highest office has put issues of intersectional identity, race and gender, and the oppression that women of color have endured through US history, on the table for voters,” said UCSB Political Science professor Pei-te Lien.

Lien was speaking at a pre-election panel with professors and a graduate student from the Feminist Studies and Ethnic Studies departments.

The event, titled “Childless Cat Ladies, Trans Kids, DEI Hires, and Not White Wives,” was moderated by Asian American Studies professor Diane Fujino, who asked the panelists to explain how these phrases, often used by the conservative right, have become weaponized buzzwords.

The event was sponsored by the Asian American Studies Department and the Center for Feminist Futures.

The event opened with an introduction from Asian American Studies professor erin Khue Ninh who jokingly said the discussion would be full of “both smack talk and real talk.” But more importantly, she emphasized the importance of pushing back against buzzwords while also addressing the mixed feelings that audience members might be having during this campaign.

Ninh said American identities are complex, and gave as an example those who are both Black and Asian, sometimes referred to as ‘Blasian.”

“A Blasian woman and a child of immigrants? How is this not the very embodiment of the civil rights and social justice movements that made our own departments possible?” Ninh asked. “And yet, in so many ways, this is not the dream.”

Professors Jigna Desai and Jane Ward of the Feminist Studies Department analyzed the use of the phrase “childless cat ladies” as a political dog whistle used to create momentum for right-wing politicians. Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance used the phrase in a 2021 Fox news interview with Tucker Carlson to attack Vice President Kamala Harris. It recently went viral.

“I think the phrasing is this idea that women are only valuable as reproduction units. That is kind of the underlying sentiment behind ‘childless cat ladies,’” Desai said.

Her discussion of pro-birth policies such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court and state decisions that ban abortion, was followed up by colleague Ward’s discussion of conservative anxiety over transgender children.

(From left to right) emcee erin Khuê Ninh (Chair and Professor in Asian American Studies), moderator Diane Fujino (Professor in Asian American Studies), Pei-te Lien (Professor in Political Science), Chris McAuley (Professor in Black Studies), Jane Ward (Chair and Professor in Feminist Studies), Jigna Desai (Professor in Feminist Studies, Director of Center for Feminist Futures), Nioshi Shah (Graduate Student in Sociology).

This has led to verbal and legislative attacks on gender studies departments, and even the very concept of the word “gender,” Ward said.

She addressed the “litter box myth,” a false narrative claiming that elementary school teachers have placed litter boxes in their classroom to accommodate students who identify as cats, saying it is an attempt to accuse those who accommodate transgender students of allowing children to act as animals. In reality, Ward explained, the presence of litter boxes in classrooms is a response to the potential need for restroom access during extended lockdowns caused by school shootings.

Sociology graduate student Nioshi Shah said her research on South Asian identity has focused on the concept of “whiteness” and identity as something that is both self-proclaimed but also imposed by others.

She referred to a video of actor producer Mindy Kaling and Vice President Kamala Harris cooking Masala Dosa with one another. Shah said that while both women were attempting to represent and bond over their South Asian identity, the images also contribute to broader racial generalizations in American society.

Black Studies professor Chris McAuley said Kamala Harris has championed her South Asian identity while downplaying her Jamaican heritage, which he hopes she will do more of in the future.

He said it has become particularly urgent in light of the recent conservative right-wing surge against Haitian immigrants following former president Donald Trump’s comments about Haitian immigrants as “dog-eaters.”

“There is a certain amount of puzzlement on one hand and also a disappointment that I hope will not be repeated once she is in office,” McAuley said about Harris’ public acknowledgement of her identity.

Political scientist Pei-te Lien noted mixed trends in recent election turnouts – increases in voter turnout, but also persistent divisions within communities of color. She emphasized the need to elect politicians who empathize and work closely with minority groups, and also the need to hold them accountable.

The panelists said the language, culture, and discourse of this presidential election has resulted in mixed feelings among the public towards both candidates. “Let us dream of what could be possible so that we can build that,” said Feminist Studies scholar Desai.

Above all, panelist urged members of the audience to vote.

Tia Trinh is a fourth-year UC Santa Barbara student majoring in Writing & Literature in the College of Creative Studies.