Any classic sitcom television fan is no stranger to the Julia Louis-Dreyfus led show “VEEP”. From its deadpan humor to the shockingly realistic depiction of the day-to-day happenings in the White House, “VEEP” demonstrates the daily routine of the fictional American Vice President Selina Meyer.
Having aired from 2012-2019, the show was created before the United States had actually had a female Vice President. In doing so, it had to imagine the new social and political difference that would arise in having a female Vice President as opposed to a male one.
So, analyzing the show in a post Kamala Harris-as-Vice-President landscape, what did “VEEP” get right?
To absolutely no one’s surprise, “VEEP” was incredibly accurate when depicting the sexism that Meyer and Harris encountered during their times as Vice President.
From the numerous demeaning nicknames that both women were saddled with to the blatant lack of respect that they received from fellow politicians, the Vice Presidents were well acquainted with the misogynistic culture of American politics.
Nicknames like the “Wicked Witch of the West Wing” and “Grizzly Madam” for Meyer and “Crazy Kamala” or “Kamabla” for Harris have been used in an attempt to tear down both women, clearly in a more concentrated effort than their male counterparts.
Another aspect of the sexism experienced by Meyer and Harris is the constant attention on their children and maternity status.
In the first season of “VEEP,” Meyer has a scare when she fears that she is pregnant outside of marriage. Being divorced, the entire staff fears the scandal that will ensue if the news breaks. Meyer eventually has a miscarriage and her chief of staff takes the fall for the pregnancy story.
The entire saga is plagued by the fear of the public perception of Meyer’s potential pregnancy interfering with her political goals. The emphasis on the public reaction as opposed to the pregnancy itself is a clear demonstration of how American citizens often define women by their pregnancy status first and their worth as humans second.
The citizens of the United States and political adversaries alike were likely to define Meyer as a womb instead of person, another issue that only women face.
This goes for Harris as well. Throughout her time as Vice President, there were constant discussions about her validity as a mother and ability to serve as a result.
Harris has two stepchildren from her husband Doug Emhoff’s previous marriage. Due to these children not being biological, Harris faced many criticisms from news outlets and politicians alike.
Though Harris was consistently making political moves in the White House, the bulk of the discussion surrounding her was tied to her status as a mother.
Constant sexism is an unfortunate commonality between the two Vice Presidents, but it is certainly the most visible one.
Other similarities include actual events that occurred with their running mates.
In “VEEP,” Meyer considers running for President but soon has her wish granted when the President steps down from the position during the end of his term.
This mirrors the events of 2024 when Joe Biden dropped out of the Presidential race and Harris stepped in as the Democratic nominee.
Another literal similarity is the lack of loyalty that the Vice Presidents experience from their Presidents.
Meyer constantly states how she feels that her President is purposefully keeping her out the loop. This includes not being invited to meetings, having information withheld from her, and other actions of political sabotage.
Harris describes a similar feeling of disloyalty in her recently released memoir, “107 Days.” In the book, she hints that while she felt extremely loyal to the Biden’s, she was not certain that the feeling was mutual.
Though it was a less intense disloyalty than what Meyer went through in “VEEP”, Harris walks the reader through small instances in her short Presidential campaign where she did not feel fully supported by the 46th President.
Both women were incredibly different Vice Presidents, yet they experienced many similar events due to the deep rooted misogyny in the American political system and a series of scarily accurate political moves made by their Presidents.
Being a woman is hard, and being one of the most powerful people in the world only adds to the pressure. These women handled both with grace (Harris definitely more so than Meyer), and their history-making contributions to their respective worlds will certainly be felt for many years.
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