OPINION WRITER

Susan B. Anthony was a very influential person during the women’s suffrage movement and an advocate for women’s rights.

“In a true republic, men should have nothing more than their rights,” Anthony said. “And women? Nothing less.”

This was one of many speeches by Anthony, which helped pave the road to the 19th Amendment, giving women in the United States the right to vote.

According to a 2020 U.S. Census report, 68% of eligible women reported voting, compared to a 65% turnout for men. In the 2016 election, 63% of women and 59% of men reported voting.

One century ago, women were not allowed to vote, and the entire demographic was left out of political decision-making. I can’t help but wonder what women of the 1920s would think if they could see how far women have come. Once upon a time, the idea of women having a voice was just a dream, but due to perseverance and hard work, when women scream, they are heard.

The presence of women in leadership roles is a great asset because of their capability to provide different skills and imaginative perspectives. For example, a national survey by the Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends survey ranked 2,250 adult women better than or equal to men in seven of the eight primary leadership traits assessed throughout the survey.

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile MlamboNgcuka has been an advocate for diversity and inclusion, specifically when it comes to gender.

“No country prospers without the engagement of women,” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said. “We need women’s representation that reflects all women and girls in all their diversity and abilities and across all cultural, social, economic and political situations.”

Women are changing the face of politics in revolutionary ways. Since the beginning of U.S. politics, the presidential race has been a popularity contest between two white men.

Women in power are building a different world where everyone has a role and it is respected — they are fighting for equality, integrity and respect. This is because women have lived in deprivation of rights and dealt with the consequences. Women fight every day to ensure change and make sure deprivation of rights are no longer present in young girls’ lives, paving the way for the future female figures.

Shannon O’Connell, the director of programmes at Westminster Foundation for Democracy, has expressed concern on various occasions regarding the treatment of different genders in politics.

“Understanding the gendered nature of political leadership and decision-making is more important than ever as we collectively rebuild and hopefully move toward a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future,” O’Connell said

In the past decade, women have rebuilt the political world to begin the construction of the future. In 2020, the U.S. elected the first female vice president, shattering the gender barrier in the White House.

Other actions taking place in Congress are the presence of Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, also known as “The Squad.” All four are democratic women of color looking to make systematic change.

Since taking office, Ocasio-Cortez has been busy creating major change, co-sponsoring the Green New Deal, advocating for the U.S. economy to combat climate change, Medicare for All and free public college.

Omar’s election made her the first Somali-American and the first naturalized citizen from Africa in Congress, bringing a more diverse background to encourage new ideas. Her victory spurred the House to end its 181-year ban on headwear, and Omar became the first woman to wear a hijab on the House floor.

In Congress, Pressley has been an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, arguing for better protections for victims and a staunch supporter of abortion rights. Pressley’s first amendment on the House floor called for lowering the voting age from 18 to 16, but it did not pass. Her ideas are centered around female reproductive rights and have created a new feminist perspective in politics.

Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress. She has proposed legislation to expand federal civil rights laws, marched against police brutality and decried the impact of corporate money on politics. She holds very strong ideas about the former president. Donald Trump, and after this led to controversy on Twitter after sharing her opinion, her popularity has risen.

Electric vehicles are reinventing the car industry

The car industry has changed in a big way over the past several decades. Companies across the world are promoting, advertising and conceptualizing never-before-seen designs. However, this is all changing with the demand for something new and more modern.

For example, BMW is an iconic German-based company that has made a fortune on a sleek design that hasn’t changed in a while. The same can be said for the now BMW-owned company, Mini. The company that is best known for its Cooper model and has had great success with a simplistic car design that was, for the most part, unchanged from its initial concept in the 1960s. In the past year, both have introduced slight changes to their designs as well as a completely new one for BMW.

Car companies are releasing prototypes, concept designs and plans to make designs that were long thought to have been impossible or looked like they were pulled straight from science fiction. What was once unattainable has now been achieved. One design that had car enthusiasts salivating was BMW’s IX Flow, which can change from an inky black to a cool, soft white with just a click of a button.

“The body is laminated with an electrophoretic film containing microcapsules the diameter of a human hair,” the BMW website reads

In basic terms, microcapsules are charged particles that can change from white and black when electricity is applied.

The design was a huge success when it was unveiled for the first time at the Las Vegas Consumer Electric Show (CES), an event that showcased tech in categories like automotive, artificial intelligence, audio engineering and cyber security.

BMW wasn’t the only car manufacturer to dazzle the attendees of CES with the immense advancement of its designs. Sony and Honda unveiled the Afeela electric car that brings together Sony’s technology and Honda’s vehicles. Not only did it introduce a car that utilizes Unreal Enginedesigned interfaces, but it introduced the first partnership for Sony and Honda. Unreal Engine is a 3D model software used by video game developers to manipulate visuals, sounds and physics. This unique partnership is the first of its kind since this software has never before been implemented in a vehicle. The Afeela uses technology from the Unreal Engine to detect objects 360 degrees around the car’s exterior and the driver’s condition while driving.

In the typical showroom of electric vehicles, trucks are usually missing. However, at this year’s CES, that was not the case. Ram was one of a few automotive companies that showcased an all electric-pickup truck with the Ram 1500 Revolution BEV, an all-electric pickup truck that provides a “Shadow Feature,” which follows the driver around if they are on foot.

These are just a few of the brand-new designs companies have brought about major changes in the car industry. However, these designs are strictly prototypes. It will most likely be a while until we see these vehicles on the road or available on the general market.

Despite this, the automotive industry has already gone through a slew of changes in new markets, which caused a major growth period in the industry.

A few years ago, critics laughed at the idea of people driving around in fully electric cars. It didn’t seem possible for prototypes that relied entirely on a charging station to have long ranges when it was first introduced. While it still is not perfect, it now is able to provide a lot of benefits. These benefits can range from being emission-free, providing the convenience of charging at home and costing less to operate than non-electric vehicles.

In 2022, 5.6% of sales in the automotive industry were for electric vehicles, and that percentage steadily climbs each year.

All-electric and hybrid models doubled in sales from 2020-21, with all-electric vehicle sales increasing 85% in the year. The demand keeps going up, and it has reached the point where some companies have a two-year waitlist for people to get their hands on an electric vehicle.

The popularity of these vehicles is not dwindling, but growing. It’s no wonder companies are rushing to find new, exciting designs.

Electric vehicles have reshaped the auto industry, and while they may not be for everyone — nor are they perfect as of now — the change they brought has led to a more creative industry. More companies are desperate to compete, leading to a variety of designs, some that work and some that don’t.

The progress designers and engineers have made is opening doors to futuristic designs.

Ford is another company trying to find a way to capitalize on the popularity of electric vehicles by moving some of its designs into a more ultra-modern and ultraluxury look.

Last year, Ford hired a new chief design officer, Anthony Lo. The new addition is a former exterior designer at the French company Renault. Lo’s first concept as chief design officer came in the form of the Lincoln Model L100, a vehicle that looks futuristic with a sleek design. This is entirely new territory for Ford, which has a reputation for an array of pickup trucks.

The car industry is certainly moving into a new style, and almost all of its major growth can be attributed to electric vehicles. Popularity for these cars keeps on growing, and it forces the industry to grow and adapt. The design for vehicles has to grow if companies want to keep people interested.

Most of the people buying these cars are young people Many don’t want to be driving the same cars they sat in the backseats of as kids; they want something that resembles a part of themselves and a part of the time they are living in.

Station wagons became popular when the idea of the American dream was popular, and now, moving into a cleaner, more modern future is the trending concept. Our cars should reflect that. Car trends are a lot like fashion trends: the popularity of certain designs comes and goes, but some things always remain popular.

For a while, all-electric designs were foreign to us, but they have since grown to become the norm for the landscape of cars. The popularity of these cars keeps growing and will probably continue until something new and revolutionary comes along to shake things up again.