Gender And Politics Essay

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The study of gender and politics has increasingly become a very popular area of study, giving us emerging classes like Women and Politics. These classes expose just how important it is to analyze gender and its role in politics, and allows us to expand our knowledge on the topic. The role of women in office, and in politics, in general has also increased; today the number of women in Congress and State legislatures is at an all-time high (Sanbonmatsu, 2007). So how exactly does gender play a role in politics, and more specifically how does being a woman affect one’s electability? A candidate’s gender is important to voters in many ways. The most basic way that gender influences voters has to with their view on the candidate’s competence. A …show more content…

Some research says that gendered stereotypes have a direct impact on voters’ assessments of candidates, while some research claims that these stereotypes don’t have much influence at all (Dolan, 2014). How can this be? Women holding high political offices are becoming more commonplace in our society. The increase in number of women in political offices may have helped made voting for women candidates appear more normal. Previously elected women have paved the way for women today. As the number of women running in political elections increases, so does the number of those elected; seeing more women take the stage in the political limelight may influence those to push away the gender stereotypes they know and start seeing women as successful and competent leaders. Another explanation for the discrepancy is that most voters are more informed about each candidates issue on policies and educate themselves on each candidate instead of merely drawing conclusions based on their sex. As a result of the increase of women in office, and voters becoming more informed while relying less on gendered assumptions, it is clear to see why some research suggests that typical gender stereotypes do not influence voters as much as one may

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