'A Woman, Just Not That Woman': How Sexism Plays Out on the Trail (lengthy, excellent read)

(google US world ranking in gender equality in political office, and, depending on source, the US ranks anywhere from 48th to 104th in gender equality in political representation. this is beyond disgraceful and obscene)


(one would hope that, approaching the third decade of the 21st century, we would be beyond sexism and misogyny. alas, that is not the case)

‘A Woman, Just Not That Woman’: How Sexism Plays Out on the Trail

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Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts spoke with audience members at a campaign stop on Saturday in Dover, N.H., after formally kicking off her campaign for president.CreditCreditJohn Tully for The New York Times


In the words of her detractors during the 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton was abrasive and shrill. She was aloof. She was unlikable.It’s not a coincidence that some of these adjectives are now bubbling up in discussions of Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris as they campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination.Few Americans acknowledge they would hesitate to vote for a woman for president — but they don’t have to, according to researchers and experts on politics and women and extensive research on double standards in campaigns. Reluctance to support female candidates is apparent in the language that voters frequently use to describe men and women running for office; in the qualities that voters say they seek; and in the perceived flaws that voters say they are willing or unwilling to overlook in candidates.


The influence and impact of these stereotypes and double standards are about to play out in uncharted territory: a presidential race featuring six women running for the Democratic nomination, all vying to compete against President Trump, who has a history of making sexist comments.“For 20 years, we’ve heard participants in our focus groups say they would vote for a woman, just not that woman,” said Amanda Hunter, research and communications director at the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which supports women in politics. “That promise will be put to the test in some cases, because folks may not be able to hide their bias behind that excuse when there’s multiple women on the debate stage.”

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Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota spoke to reporters in December about sexual harassment legislation.CreditErin Schaff for The New York Times

How much sexism ultimately influences votes is a matter of debate. In general elections, partisanship beats everything else, said Kathleen Dolan, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, whose research shows that most voters stick with their party’s candidate regardless of gender. But there has been little comparable research on primaries, where partisanship isn’t in the equation. And the Democrats will have a wide-open presidential primary in 2020 with multiple leading female candidates. What is not a matter of debate is the array of ways that sexism can manifest on the campaign trail, affecting not only how voters perceive candidates but how candidates present themselves to voters.

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Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York campaigned at a brewery in Iowa last month.CreditRachel Mummey for The New York Times


Women also tend to be viewed as unlikable based on their ambition. Harvard researchers found in 2010 that voters regarded “power-seeking” women with contempt and anger, but saw power-seeking men as stronger and more competent. There is often some implication of unscrupulousness in descriptions of female candidates as “ambitious” — an adjective that could apply to any person running for president but is rarely used to disparage men. Within 24 hours of Ms. Harris’s campaign kickoff, some critics were bringing up her onetime relationship with a powerful California politician, Willie Brown — a common tactic faced by women that sexualizes them and reduces their successes to a relationship with a man.And if a narrative of unlikability takes hold, it can influence voters without their even realizing it.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/politics/sexism-double-standard-2020.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage