Gender Stereotypes In Presidential Candidates

Women’s rights and equalities have always been an issue. Women first began their fight for equality in 1776, when the Congress was working on the Declaration of Independence. During the late 1840s, women set up the first women’s rights convention, which was the starting point of the women’s rights movement. In 1861, men were getting called off to war, leaving their wives and kids at home to wait patiently and care for the house and children. Women did not take too well to that idea, and they began to take action. Women have always fought for their right to stand alongside men. The three major events for the fight to gain rights and equality for women were the “Remembering the Ladies” declaration, the Civil War, and the Women’s Rights Movement.

Numerous systemic barriers are preventing women from entering the political workforce including (but no limited to): family, the brutality of politics, male domination, stereotypes and traditionalism. Family plays probably the most important role in women’s decision-making on whether to enter politics.

genders. Women may have the same political rights, however they are still degraded and seen as inferior to men. So, women in politics are now trying to prove that they are just as capable as men are. However, their attempts are being suppressed due to the inappropriate comments against them. Sexist remarks in the media against female political candidates is the reason why there is a smaller amount of women in government.

In reality, however, women are equally and in some ways more qualified to hold leadership positions than men. Although there is no single explanation for why women are underrepresented in politics, the gender gap in the political arena stems from the lack of female participation in elections as women are often discouraged or feel threatened by society to run for political office. Young women who aspire a career in politics encounter both structural and emotional barriers, which prevent them from running for political office. Women battle issues of self-confidence, face stereotypes, and derive false perceptions of political campaigns, all of which broaden the gender gap in the political

Women first gained the right to vote on August 26, 1920 with the 19th amendment was approved, giving women full voting rights. Fortified by the constitutional victory in 1920, the handful of new women in Congress embarked on what would become a century-long journey to broaden women’s role in government. In the intervening years, the drive for more women’s rights encompassed the lives of the next generations of women. Even today, women are still fighting for their rights and stand up against prejudice. On the forefront of this movement are our women congresswomen who speak on behalf of all women. When Hillary Clinton announced her presidential candidacy, controversial questions immediately surfaced about the role of gender in politics. Through Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008 and 2016, media is the principal propagator in showing bias and sexism.

Women have come a long way ever since the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 and thereafter with the Equal Rights Amendment Act in 1972 to the U.S Constitution. After decades of struggling and protesting, the 19th Amendment was passed and ratified to grant women the right to vote. Fifty-two years later worth of revisions and persistency, the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified in which it declared that everyone had both Human and Civil rights in the States regardless of sex. Not only did these amendments have an immense impact on the lives of women and sequentially with the rest of the citizens of this nation, but on the people of today’s century. Women have done a tremendous job in proving society wrong about the roles women are

As soon as the law passed for their rights to vote and to be elected, women started to get more rights and freedom. The right to vote was just the start of the journey of women being equal to men. The start for change for women was in political action.

In 1850s they were getting 60% less money than men. This marked the beginning of women's role in politics. Women started forming their own political party where women like Mary Lease and Anne diggs in kansas and nebraska fought for raise in money by strikes. The result was that by 1906 women were receiving 75% money as much as men. This was huge gain in women’s fight for equality.

Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest.” (19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920)). The only people that were allowed to vote in the early years of the United States were white males who owned land; the 19th Amendment changed history forever, it allows suffrage from women. The privilege of permitting women to vote caused distinct opinions due to the fact that women were kept away from politics since they were not supposed to take part in male roles. The participation of females in politics altered their lives, they voted and a few years later also ran for office (Women’s Equality Day:

Wilson points out that women are steadily gaining traction in legislature, but at a severely slow pace when compared to other Western democracies. Over 30% of all Democratic state legislator are women. Conversely, fewer than one in six Republican state legislators are women. The chances of a woman winning or losing a political election is no greater than a man’s chances.

The U.S. Congress is only 17% female. As a result, the decisions made by congressmen will tend to favor men. “We are shortchanging voices that are urgently needed in public forms from ever getting to the table.” (Booker) I do not think that it is merely the media to blame for girls not wanting to become involved in politics. I feel as though girls should be leaders in politics only if they want to. Although we need way more female representatives, this does not mean that girls should be forced to do something that they are not interested in.

Since during the World War 1, women held no form of presentation in the legislature. I gather what was the first obstacle of why there was no women in the government before, reason for this was due to their inability to vote. Women were not allowed to vote until 1920, a big factor to limited power and representation in Congress. During the World War 1, important figures in the women’s rights movement help fight fighting for equality, Suffrage leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone pushed for women to gain a new sense of power. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granted women the right to vote two years after the war, Congress granting women to vote was a step towards women in legislature. It marked a sort of way to change the political system by voting to change the system. Voting is an essential tool to get women voices heard, the next step to get more female representation in the government. Following the Ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women to vote, 2 years after, Rebecca Felton became the first women to serve in the U.S Senate in 1922 for four years.

When we think about positions of power we have to take into consideration the opportunity everyone has. Is that opportunity equal? As much as I would like to think it is, from a young age women are taught that men should be in positions of power, not women. Because of this assumption woman are less likely to get involved with politics and other positions because they think they have no chance. The Chipotle manager who was accused of gender discrimination against female managers does a nice job showing the world that women are not always treated fairly when compared with men. If these female managers were receiving the same or better performance evaluations, then the male managers and yet the female looses her job. This goes to show

The political arena is a tough place to be part of, especially during a campaign. Your opponent and their supporters are constantly watching your every move with the hopes that you will make a mistake, or that somebody will find some detrimental dirt on you. Now imagine also being a woman, not only will you have to face the hardships that male candidates cope with but you will also have to handle the adversity based on your gender and the stereotypes that go along with being a female. Women have to be prepared to confront the fact that they may not even be wanted in that setting. For example Margaret Carlson stated,

Even though numbers are slowly rising in the United States, there are still more men in executive positions than women. According to one survey, female workers only made up 43% of legislators, senior managers, and senior officials whereas male workers made up 57%. In congress, congresswomen make up only 17% of representation compared to congressmen making up 83% (Ferrante, 2011, p. 312). Gender stratification is one explanation for the tremendous gap. Ferrante (2011) describes gender stratification as the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources amongst male and female employees. (p. 311) For example, male workers have an increased opportunity to receive a promotion than a female worker. According to Tinsley (2013), women are more likely to receive executive positions when a company is doing well, rather than when a company is suffering. Some companies stereotype that women workers will leave the workforce soon to bear children, limiting their chances of achieving executive status (Ferrante, 2011, p. 316).