Gender Stereotypes in Politics

Over the past thirty years, scholars have explored the myriad ways that gender stereotypes may explain the dearth of women in elected office in the United States. That is, do stereotypes about women and men affect the ability of women to seek and attain political leadership roles? Early research demonstrated that female and male politicians were viewed differently, along the lines of gender stereotypes, with regard to their traits, beliefs, or ideology and the issues they were perceived as competent to handle. Because politics is a masculine domain, this presents challenges to and for women seeking political leadership roles and elected office. A large portion of the work on gender stereotypes explores how they shape voter choices in elections, as well as how female candidates anticipate and change their campaign strategies relative to stereotypes. Numerous observational studies of elections have not connected gender stereotypes and voter choice and often demonstrate the overwhelming impact of party identification. However, experimental and observational research on gender stereotypes more precisely identifies the mechanisms by which—and the contexts in which—gender stereotypes may influence candidate evaluations and vote choice. Gender stereotypes shape candidate recruitment and characterize voter impressions of the Republican and Democratic political parties in the United States. Research on stereotype activation, stereotype threat, and measurement has fruitfully been imported from social psychology to understand and explain gender stereotyping in politics. In addition, gender politics scholars have worked to explore the intersection of gender stereotypes with other group stereotypes relevant in politics such as race, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Finally, a blossoming research area identifies various contexts in which gender stereotypes may hinder—or propel— women as political leaders. Media coverage of political campaigns—particularly coverage of female candidates for office—continues to reflect gender stereotypes, although coverage has improved over time and is shaped by a broader set of relevant factors such as partisanship and incumbency. In all, gender stereotypes have been and will continue to be an important area to explore in seeking to understand women’s descriptive underrepresentation in political office.