The Relationship Between Gender Roles And Governmental Opportunities

In contrast, American women hold a minor role in political participation. With only 84 of 435 seats, women face more challenges in American politics than men. (Catalyst) For example, we can look at the most recent election where Hillary Clinton was the victim to many implicit gender bias’. In order to elect the most qualified person to lead a country shouldn’t gender be taken out of the equation? Plato’s approach focuses on electing those who are most qualified and justly, eliminates gender as a factor.

Due to preconceived notions about their skills and abilities, male dominated fields are where women face the most scrutiny. “In this way, stereotype threat may create a vicious cycle that maintains and exacerbates the observed under-representation of women in male-dominated fields” (Van Hippel 160). These types of thoughts continue to re occur without much debate in individual minds through unnoticed and involuntary hegemony. “Once generalizations based on categories are fixed in people’s minds, the way they process information perpetuates those generalizations. They notice, ask questions about, remember, and integrate information that confirms their previously formed views” (Bartlett 1910). Once people are aware of what

Some people believe women are not socialized in a way that prepares them to hold political powers. Some view politics as a masculine domain. This is a gender stereotype. It is the public’s perception that women cannot make a difference in politics which is often influenced by the

Women were not role players in the national government until 1917, but over nearly the past century, the impact women have had on Washington’s politics has begun to unfold into the current role women play in the US government today. Before 1917, no woman had ever been elected to serve and represent their state in Washington, D.C., although many had tried. In 1917, we saw our first congresswoman on the national stage, and throughout the year’s woman have played many roles in government. These roles include service in the House of Representatives, the Senate, many presidents’ cabinets, and other vital roles in our government. Many women have tried and some have come close, but, no woman has ever been able to grab the most illustrious role, the President of the United States. For that matter, no woman has been elected Vice President of the United States. Women will continue to try until they prevail and are chosen to serve as the President of the United States.

Typically, female candidates are stereotyped to be better suited for certain policy areas like healthcare, education, and women’s issues (Carlin & Winfrey, 2009; Dolan, 2014; Dolan, 2010; Dolan, 2005; Falk, 2013; King & Matland, 2003; Lammers, Gordijn & Otten, 2009; Sanbonmatsu & Dolan, 2009; Sanbonmatsu, 2002; Schneider, 2014; Winfrey, Warner & Banwar, 2014). While men on the other hand, are seen to be better equipped to discuss issues like taxes, military, and the economy (Dolan, 2014; Dolan, 2010; Dolan, 2005; Falk, 2013; King & Matland, 2003; Sanbonmatsu & Dolan, 2009; Sanbonmatsu, 2002; Schneider, 2014; Winfrey, Warner & Banwar, 2014). Moreover, women are stereotypically seen as more compassionate and honest than their male counterparts, framing women as being too emotional and incapable for the job (Curnalia & Mermer, 2014; Dolan, 2014; Dolan, 2010; Schneider & Bos,

“Women belong in the private sphere. Men belong in the public sphere. Attempting to mix these two worlds is difficult.” (Zamfirache 2010:177). It is a woman’s duty to focus on her family. It is a man’s job to focus on his career. “Boys are told that they can become president one day; the best girls can hope for is to grow up to marry a man who one day may be president” (Renzetti, Curran, Maier 2012: 313). Adolescents are lead to believe that politics is a male-dominated institution, that there is no room for women in this arena.

According to the most recent US census in 2015, 50.8% of the population of the United States are in fact, women. Despite the sex ratio essentially being equal, female representation in government is not equal. A correlation is women in the federal bureaucracy and (generally) in federal politics did not occur until the early 1900s. For example, through the determination of Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and others strong women, women were brought the right to vote in the United States by the nineteenth amendment (1920). By this initial crack in the gender barrier, women were given the understanding of the importance of women in politics as well as the chance for their voice in politics. The crack has only furthered over time as more women are involved with the bureaucracy.

America is typically at the forefront when it comes to modern thinking; however, when it comes to gender roles, America is falling behind. Since we do not see many if any females in higher government positions, the younger generations of females begin to believe that it is not the norm for a women to be in those positions. Because of this the younger generation of females do not strive for those positions. Lili Gil who is a Entrepreneur, Multicultural Strategist, and Cofounder of XL Alliance, cover this issue in her article entitled, “The Gender Crisis in Politics: U.S. Congress Fails at Equality.” This article, published May 26, 2012, covers many different aspects of this situation. Her article talks about how other countries have progressed

Gender stereotypes–oversimplified ideas of female or male qualities and mannerisms–exist in all areas of life. In the political sphere, stereotypes, such as women not being outspoken or authoritative, negatively influence women and pose barriers to those who are running for political leadership positions. Because women are stereotypically viewed as “warm, gentle, kind, and passive,” in comparison to the typical man that is viewed as “tough, aggressive and assertive,” women feel that their qualities are not suited for political candidacy (Huddy, Nayda). Women are indirectly told through stereotyping that the political arena is unsuitable for their gender; therefore, they pursue careers they feel are suitable for their “feminine” character traits. The higher level of male participation, in comparison to female participation, in political elections is not because the electoral environment “favours” stereotypical male qualities, but rather, the campaigning, and public speaking aspects of the election process are perceived as unsuitable for women. Furthermore, a study conducted in 2014 discovered that voters tend to assign “positive leadership traits to male politicians,” whereas female politicians are repeatedly depicted as having “other characteristics that are not equated with political leadership” such as their physical image (Thomas, Kei). Much like in everyday life, stereotypes drive women to believe they are not capable of running for office or unlikely to win elections despite their exceeding qualifications. Even though stereotypes will always exist, it is important for young women to reflect on their leadership qualities and not allow deeply-rooted stereotypes in the political arena to impede their pursuit of a career in

The election between Clinton, the Democratic nominee, and Republican nominee Donald Trump was a greatly consequential one that strongly captured my interest, especially since I was now eligible to vote. I was excited at the prospect of the highest and hardest glass ceiling in the United States to finally be shattered, however, following Clinton’s surprise defeat from her rival Trump, the glass ceiling has been left intact. Throughout the course of the election, I had personally heard several remarks regarding Clinton’s gender and how it impacted one’s vote choice. Some of these remarks included that women are “too emotional” to hold such a position, and that it would be emasculating for a man to vote for a woman. Retrospectively looking at this past election cycle has brought my aforementioned research question to the forefront for me and has made me question just how much of an impact a candidate’s gender can have over vote choice in a United States presidential election. This is an important question to be researched as it can assist in addressing just how prevalent sexism and misogyny are in the country today. Women make up approximately 51% of the country’s population meaning that factors such as sexism directly affect over half of the population. In addition, Clinton’s gender may have assisted in

The sample participants in this survey are women serving in the three governmental branches of the United States. Those three branches consist of the legislative branch (104 women), executive branch (7 women), and the judicial branch (131 women) nation wide. Additionally, those women arranged from the Democratic and Republican parties. Potential participants will include two hundred and fifty-five women derived from various branches. All potential subjects will receive information on the study. That information will contain, the purpose of the study, who will be doing the research, and when the research conveyed. As a recruitment method emails distributed to all potential participants will notifying them of upcoming survey dates and reminders. Those participants who decide to complete and submit their survey will serve as our purposive sample. Each participant that partook will receive 10 dollars, for participation.

While there has been firm establishment in the paper on the role of political party, gender stereotypes, and double binds in the female candidate’s electability, there are three limitations to the model. The first limitation

The sixth chapter in Jamieson’s (1995) book Beyond the Double Bind works strictly with the bind of femininity and competence. This is the bind where women have to balance a fine line between feminine and masculine without tipping the scale. If a candidate shows too much femininity, she risks losing brains, and authority. On the other hand, if a candidate is not feminine enough, she becomes too masculine, strong, shrew, and a bitch. According to Jamieson, gender stereotypes and gendered language are factors reinforcing the bind. The more women begin taking posts traditionally held by males, the more people view them as competent leaders. By taking leadership positions, women being to dismantling the standards of the femininity/competence bind. Many double binds exist for female candidates and the femininity/competence bind is more apparent in their representation in the news media.

Through a series of tests, focusing on keeping Gender the independent variable and testing it against 8 different dependent variable. The results from the study suggest that females tend to have more liberal opinions towards public policy than males. This is not to say that there is a large relationship, in point of fact there is a small to an almost non-existent relationship. Though the hypothesis is not wrong, it is not a correct to say with 100% certainty that females will always have more liberal opinions towards public policy than males. As seen in Tables 7 and 8, both had small relationships and concluded that for defense sending, males tended to hold more liberal opinions. And though small by only 5 points, it still exists. The reason for the evening of opinions between males and females may attribute back to Welch’s argument in her paper Are Women More Liberal Than Men in the US Congress (Welch, 1985). Her conclusion was, though there is a small relationship with females holding more liberal voting patterns, the gap seems to be dwindling as years progress. This could be due to the fact that females are becoming a much more prominent force in politics as opposed to the past. The amount of females with education may be increasing as well as become more independent from males and able to stand their ground and hold firm opinions. This paper reaffirms this belief

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).