October 7, 2020 - Google Trends During Vice Presidential Debate Reveal Gender Bias

Google trends during the vice presidential debate reveal a spike in people searching for “Senator Kamala Harris” alongside “nude,” “bathing suit,” and “bikini.” Pence searches included “x men,” “net worth 2020,” and “HIV.” As Newsweek reports, “X-Men likely refers to a meme comparing him to the comic book character Stryker, and HIV to his handling of Indiana’s outbreak of the virus.” These data demonstrate the ways in which Harris was subject to sexualization and objectification in ways her male opponent was not.