Women in Politics Notes
The Roots of Gender Inequality
It beings with the family
Men are "the principal agents in generation" - Sir Robert Filmer,
Patriarcha and other Writings
Men are the head of households, family takes the man's name etc.
"Women are insignificant outside of the home"
"But the husband and wife... having different understandings, will
unavoidably sometimes have different wills too; therefore being necessary that the
last Determination, i.e. the Rule, should be placed somewhere, it naturally falls
to the Man's share, as the abler and the stronger." John Locke, Two Treatises
"Naturally" it falls to the stronger man to lead the family, and
why women should not, Using biology to keep women unempowered.
Subordination of Women
We see the continued subordination of women in a famous exchange between
Abigail and John Addams, where she says:
"Whilst you are proclaiming peace and good-will to men, emancipating
all nations, you insist on retaining an absolute power over wives."
Adams saw his wife a confidant, but even with their close
relationship, she seemingly was unable to get through to him about this topic
Fulfilling specific roles
Men - Leader, Provider, Protector, Present in public
Women - Passive, caretaker, Home maker, Homebound
The Public/Private Divide
Men are accepted and expected to be out in the world, and Women
are expected to be a home
To men's detriment, it puts pressure on them to care for a family
single handedly. Men who stay at home are often seen as emasculated.
Gender Across Societies
Despite exception to gender roles in other societies, male roles are more
valued
"Whatever the arrangements in regard to decent or ownership of
property, and even if these formal outward arrangements are reflected in the
temperamental relations between the sexes, the prestige values always attach to the
activities of men". Margaret Mead, 1935
What we mean by Public vs Private
Public - "The activities, institutions, and forms of association that link,
rank, organize, or subsume particular mother-child groups." Men \ It's seen as
respectable choice to not have kids.
Private - "The minimal institutions and modes of activity that are organized
immediately around one or more mothers and their children." Women \ Almost seems to
be a moral failing tp not have children
Separate Spheres Upheld in Court
"Nature herself has always recognized a wide difference in the respective
spheres and destinies of man and woman... The natural and proper timidity and
delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the
occupations of civil life. The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to
fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the
Creator.' Justice Joseph Bradley, Bradwell v. Illinois 1873
This continues on in the Muller v Oregon case (1908), where the Supreme Court
upheld an Oregon statue allowing women's workdays to be limited
Why? Because woman's "physical structure and a proper discharge of her
maternal functions... justify legislation to protect her from the greed as well as
the passion of man"
The Roles we fulfill
"Despite the enlightened emancipation of women from the restrictions and
protections of bygone years, and their entry into many parts of community life
formerly considered to be reserved to men, woman is still regarded as the center of
home and family life." - Justice John Marshall Harlan, Hoy v Florida 1961
The Ties that Bind Us
"Men have no single commitment as enduring, time consuming, and emotionally
compelling, as close to seeming necessary and natural as the relation of a women to
her infant child; and so men are free to form those broader associations that we
call "society", universalistic systems of order, meaning, and commitment that link
particular mother child groups."
It's in her nature
Girls naturally become women:
The roles we associate with women, specifically the role of mother, are
seen as natural
Boys become men by achievement:
The public roles men assume mean doing activities, "Achieving a
particular status"
Breaking the Barrier
Women become more powerful when they enter the public sphere.
This is a small and elite group of women
But women can also be powerful when the public and private spheres are firmly
divided
Economic contributions
Large doweries
Influence
The Courts Begin to Strike down a sex-based laws
Reed v Reed 1971
Idaho law preferring a man over a woman to act as administrator of an
estate
Frontiero v Richardson 1973
Military regulation requiring married women to prove they provided over
1/2 of family's support before receiving benefits
Craig vs Boren 1976
Oklahoma law about allowing women to buy "near" beer.
Modern's Women Movement
Modern women's movement -> social movement -> a form of action and
mobilization through which non elites can influence elites -> not constrained to
methods or policies determined by elites
Three movements
Equal right's movement (1848)
Suffrage Movement (1890)
Women's Rights Movement (1961)
Elements of Social Movements
Leadership (Susan b Anthony - women's suffrage / Abolitionist groups)
Organizational Base and Structure (Who are they working with, how
organized are they?)
Sense of collective oppression (While difficult to have due to
intersectionality, having a connection between these lived experiences creates
sisterhood)
Critical mobilizing Event (Seneca falls)
Equal rights movement
Leadership: abolition movements, female anti-slavery societies
Organizational base: churches, abolitionist newspapers
Sense of collective oppression: lack of voting rights, political
participation rights, inequality in marriages
Critical mobilizing event: Seneca falls convention 1848
Achievements: Married women's property act, right for women to speak in
public, admission into universities, suffrage in states
Ends: When the group splits into the NWSA and AWSA
Women's right movement
Leadership: Washington community of women, civil rights movement, anti-
war movement
Organizational base: women's colleges, national student association,
student organizations against Vietnam
Sense of collective oppression: Reproductive rights, equal pay,
affirmative action (DEI)
Critical mobilizing event: Commission on the status of women 1961
Achievements: equal pay act, equal employment act, title IX, party
reform, FMLA
Ends: Election of republican majority to congress in 1994
Why a Women's Movement?
What interests do women have as a group
Challenges of the women's movement
Consciousness raising: is when a group realizes the connection they
have with other members in the group including shared interests, beliefs, and ideas
that make them different from other group in society. This is also known as a
collective consciousness
Overcoming Consciousness Raising
Frames: Establishes a definition of a situation in accordance with the
principles of organization that govern events.
Maternal
Equality
Feminine Expressive
"How can these frames be elastic enough to encompass other identities?"
Partisan Divide
In what ways have the two parties split on women's issues
How does this complicate the women's movement?
Wither a Women's Movement?
GROUP 5 - The 2017 women's march occurred in direct response to the election of
Donald Trump. Why hasn't Trump's second election resulted in a new march> What is
different or what has changed.
She's Beautiful When She's Angry Documentary
Quiz 2 starts here
Women and Political Participation: Public Opinion and Voting
The Gender Gap refers to the difference between the percentage of women and
the percentage of men voting for the winning candidate. 1980 is the first election
year the gender gap appears.
Gender Gap
The difference in the proportions of women and men who voted for the winning
candidate.
Why would women vote differently from men?
Voting Prior to the Gender Gap
Two conventional wisdoms:
Women's vote was not distinctive from men's because they were depended
on them
Women did have an impact on elections, particularly the 1920 landslide
and the 1928 presidential election.
What issues were important to women of this time period?
Prohibition and religious issues
Why is it difficult to answer the question of women's impact on the vote in
the years following suffrage?
Poor public opinion pools, most records were overall votes for each
candidate
Why a gender gap?
Women's turnout was more dependent on the context
Stimulated by competitive political environment
Dampened by restrictive voting laws
Women were initially mobilized and loyal to parties traditionally dominant in
their state
Women more likely to defect to Dem. party during New Deal
For women due to mobilization , men due to conversion
What is the gender gap like now?
Females tend to be Democrat, males then to be republican
Why Men and Women Vote Differently
Compassion
Feminism
Economics
Role of Government
How can candidates appeal to women voters?
How might other candidates affect each other's stances?
Does party trump gender or gender trump party?
A more complicated story
Gender is not the only social characteristic in which there is a voting gap
Class, martial status, age, race, and education all after the gender gap in
different ways.
Yet the gender gap is always in the same direction, with women identifying
more as democrats compared to men
Class and Gender
There is no gender gap for individuals with family incomes lower than 15,000
Gender gap is noticeably smaller for those who family income is 75,000 and
more about 4%
Largest gender gap in voting is for those whose family income is between
15,000 and 74,000 about 13%
What could explain these patterns?
Education and Gender
Largest gender gaps between the following education levels
Less than high school
Some postsecondary education
Advance degree
Age and Gender
Largest Gender gaps between the following age groups
18-34 18%
51-65 12%
Why would the gender gaps decrease as people get older?
The Hunt for the Female Vote
The female vote was considered incredibly important to our two more recent
presidential elections
Both candidates framed their issue positions as being supportive of women
THe campaigns used strategies, such as micro-targeting, to get the female
vote
Aiming specific ads at potential supporters based on where they live,
the web sites they visit, and their voting records
Discussion Questions
"The goal of any ad is to capture attention by enabling the recipient to
immediately see something of herself and her sentiments."
Participation
Why do women participate less than men?
Political Socialization
Family Responsibilities
Overrepresentation of women
What activities should be included in studies of political
participation?
Are these modem forms of political participation that are
important to focus on? What is your expectation for that participation amongst
women?
Studying New Forms of Political Participation
What does a research study look like the investigates the impact of gender on
the following forms of participation?
Blogging
Tweeting
Instagram
Facebook
Snapchat
TikTok
Who do you study? How do you study them? Challenges to the study? What other
identifies do you need to take into consideration?
What we know so far
Female candidates fro congress are more likely to use Twitter
Female candidates are not more likely to post negative attacks on Facebook
Slightly more women than men use social media
Beyond Voting
Registration:
Women out register men
What would be an effective strategy for registering women on
college campuses?
Do you think college students know enough about politics to make
an informed decision on what party to register for?
Quiz 3 starts here
