Do You Feel Like You Matter In America?

Do you feel like you matter in America? Our research partners at Worthy Strategy Group just asked women this same question in virtual focus groups, and some of the responses were surprising!

Only about 15 percent of the women in these focus groups feel like they matter in America. And that’s including the votes from folks with mixed feelings!

There was widespread agreement* that we all matter as humans, that we have intrinsic value and that we matter in the grand scheme of things. But in terms of mattering in America, most felt like they only mattered as a taxpayer. Not even as a voter–just as a taxpayer. What the women we heard from didn’t agree on is who DOES matter in America and why.

Many of the Trusters and Individualists feel like special interest groups, the ultra wealthy, politicians, and donors who fund politicians matter most. We heard a little about representation in government as an indicator of who matters most, and the single moms and young women trying to make ends meet do not see themselves reflected there. For many Individualists, this type of mattering has more to do with class than with identity. But some of the Trusters who feel like only the rich or politicians matter also talked about men or “old white men” being the ones who have power, which they see as unfair. They wonder why those leaders can’t see that all people have intrinsic value:

“[Mattering] does have to come from internally. But it makes me wonder, the people who are exploiting other people—where is their sense of self-worth coming from?”

Truster

Some of the Traditionalists felt like groups who have been labeled as disadvantaged matter most in America, which they see as unfair. A few women in the focus groups feel like “the others,” specifically including Black and LGBTQ+ Americans, are getting more support and more media coverage than they deserve, to the exclusion and detriment of straight white Americans.

Other women in the groups feel a specific connection between government policy and mattering. For example, one Individualist said:

“The thing that jumped to my head immediately was Roe v, Wade, and it’s like kind of hard to feel like I matter if I don’t have a choice over my body.”

Individualist

Another woman shared her experience with homelessness and how receiving housing support but having to jump through hoops to access it made her feel like she both did and did not matter. Overall, she said it gave her the impression that “we do try for our people.”

But what would make women feel like they matter in America? Our research partner asked that, too:

• More assistance for single moms, middle-class families, and people in “the gap” who make too much to qualify for government support but not enough to actually get by

• Less income inequality and a living wage for everyone who works

• Regulations that protect American people’s health, such as environmental protections and food system changes

• Generally putting people over (especially corporate) profits

• Healthcare or health insurance for everyone

• More government spending on Americans, less government spending on foreign aid or the military

• Reproductive freedom with no or very limited restrictions on abortion

These crowdsourced hallmarks of mattering look an awful lot like the characteristics of an America that works better for everyone that we’ve consistently heard from women over the years. So many of us Americans really do share this vision for our future. But when people feel overlooked and undervalued, they don’t feel like their voice can be heard or like their civic engagement makes a difference. We know that voting and doing our part is important for a healthy democracy. But all the chaos makes it hard to know who to trust and what solutions deserve our support. That’s why Galvanize USA offers supportive programming where women can see that they’re not alone as they share ideas, learn, and make sense of the world together.

*One Individualist also expressed the opinion that none of us matter because we are all just specks of dust when you consider the vastness of the universe, which fits in nicely with that group’s “you only live once” philosophy.