WOMEN HELD TO DIFFERENT STANDARDS, EXPERTS SAY.
By KATIE GALLAGHER, Alligator Writer
It's been almost 90 years since women won the right to vote, and though Hillary Clinton is emerging as a strong contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, her campaign is showing that women still face political challenges.
"It's very difficult for women to emerge as leaders and still maintain the cultural expectations of what being a woman is," said Clare Giesen, executive director of the National Women's Political Caucus.
Trysh Travis, a UF women's studies assistant professor, said powerful women walk a fine line between being considered liked and competent. Competence is usually thought of as the ability to make tough decisions, master large amounts of knowledge and be competitive, Travis said.
"I think for a woman to display those qualities, she might have to downplay some of the qualities people typically associate with likability in women," Travis said, such as being nice, accommodating or thoughtful.
By emphasizing her competence, Giesen said, Clinton can sometimes come off as cold or one-dimensional.
"She seems less like the person you want to have lunch with and more like the senator in office that cares about policy," she said.
Both Giesen and Travis said they had observed or read that Clinton is a warm person in private. But that aspect of her personality can get lost when she emphasizes her experience in public.
It's not uncommon for a public figure - male or female - to highlight certain personality aspects for the cameras, Travis said.
Battling Different Expectations
Americans expect men to be competent and women to be likable, but a female presidential candidate needs to be both, Travis said.
According to a July CBS News and New York Times poll, 67 percent of registered voters think women are held to a different standard than men in politics.
Stephanie Seguin, president of Gainesville Area National Organization for Women, said she has heard Clinton attacked for her ankles, clothes and hair.
"Nobody talks about John McCain or Mike Huckabee and how stupid their haircut is or their beer gut hanging over their belt," Seguin said.
Michael Martinez, a UF associate political science professor, said voters in primaries often determine choices based on likability, experience or the candidate's chances in the general election.
In New Hampshire, where Clinton won by a narrow margin, CNN exit polls showed people who voted based on issues tended to vote for Clinton.
Those who considered personal qualities to be more important tended to vote for Barack Obama.
Convincing the Skeptics
Debbie Walsh, executive director of the Center for American Women and Politics, said that to be treated seriously, Clinton has to be extra prepared and knowledgeable - sometimes over-prepared.
"It's not as though there are a lot of role models for her of how to do this," Walsh said. "She's really forging new territory here."
Clinton is not the first woman to run for president, Walsh said, but she is the first who could feasibly win.
Giesen said though people have seen women run for office before - as mayors, senators or representatives - seeing one run for the presidency is different.
"You're the leader of the free world, or at least you say you are," Giesen said. "It's going to take a long time for people to get comfortable with that."
The same people who might vote for a female mayor, she said, could be uncomfortable with a female president.
"I don't know that it's prejudice so much as the emergence of a new status for women," she said. "Any time you inflict change on a culture, people balk."
Even women can be uncomfortable with Clinton, Giesen said.
"It's everything your mom told you not to be," she said.
But UF's Martinez said that just because some voters are uncomfortable with Clinton doesn't mean they wouldn't vote for a different female candidate.
"Hillary Clinton is a very polarizing figure," he said.
Inspiring Other Women
But for many women, Giesen said, Clinton has been a role model. Giesen thinks that is one of the reasons Clinton has done well in polls of older women, who grew up with fewer opportunities.
"She says what I wish I'd thought to say, the things I wish I had the courage to say," Giesen said.
Walsh said many women feel a sense of solidarity in voting for Clinton.
Incidents in New Hampshire in which Clinton became emotional or faced hecklers who chanted, "Iron my shirt," increased voter support among women, she said. But for the United States to become comfortable with women in higher positions, she said, more women need to run in local elections - something that has been decreasing in the past five years.
Only 34 percent of women who took the LSAT "definitely" or "probably" planned to run for office someday, in comparison to 52 percent of men who took the test, according to a 2008 Kaplan poll.
Walsh said she looks to governors and senators for future presidential candidates - but there are currently only eight female governors and 16 female senators.
In addition, she said, one of those would have to want the position and be capable of raising funds.
After Clinton, she doesn't expect to see another female presidential candidate for a while. Female candidates will probably be sporadic before they gradually increase, she said.
Travis said structural prejudices, such as lack of convenient day care or lenient work schedules, make it difficult for most women to advance in their careers as far as Clinton has, she said.
"Clinton has been very lucky, very privileged and also very strategic in the way she has run her life," she said.
Seguin said she thought if Clinton were elected president, she might address some of those issues that prevent women from achieving their goals.
She said she hopes Clinton inspires other women to run for president.
"I think she really has a goal, and she really has pride in the historic moment she's creating," she said.
