Double Standards on the Campaign Trail: Women Face Higher Standards Running for Office
Madison Placencia (PPS ‘27)
Women are held to higher standards when running for U.S. political offices, as seen in media portrayals, public responses to campaigns, and voter patterns. Women have run for political offices since before they had the right to vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton ran for the U.S. House of Representatives 54 years before the 19th amendment. Victoria Woodhull ran for president on the Equal Rights Party ticket 48 years prior. Despite the decades of women seeking higher political seats, today there have been 0 female presidents, only 25% of Senate Seats are held by women, and only 29% of House seats are held by women.
Take the 2024 presidential election for example. The former president that has been convicted on 34 felony counts ranging from fraud to sexual assault, who incited an insurrection on the Capitol building, and has publicly made racist and anti-LGBTQ+ remarks managed to win the popular vote. Why did the majority of America choose to him over a former Senator, Attorney General, and District Attorney that the majority of Americans believed outperformed Trump in the presidential debate? Criticisms of Vice President Harris were in regards to her “lack of experience”, her emotional instability and lack of confidence, and her excessive focus on women’s rights. A woman running for an elected office is required to be flawless while a man running for the same position can be lawless if said woman is his only competition.
Consider Nancy Pelosi, arguably the most effective and accomplished Speaker of the House of all time. Pelosi shines as an example of how the American people hate to see a woman that learned to play the game. Elected as the first female Speaker of the House, Pelosi embraced bipartisanship to pass healthcare expansion policy, climate legislation, and infrastructure packages. Even with her mountain high stack of achievements, former President Trump nicknamed her “Crazy Nancy” while the Republican party villainized her in advertisements and media stunts for 2 decades. The Wesleyan Media Project found that when Ms. Pelosi was minority leader, she was 6 times more likely to be featured in Republican ads than the Democratic majority leader Harry Reid. The right-wing’s portrayal of a strong, self-assured, and skilled Speaker of the House as evil, sick, and crazy, was fueled by their anger that a woman was able to achieve political feats that no man has been able to before.
Some may argue that the reason women have less representation in politics is because they don’t run successful campaigns or that they simply run at a lesser rate than men. A study conducted by Pew Research found that the majority of Americans believe that women are equally as capable as men to hold high political offices. However, this study also found that the public believes women are held back from being elected because of familial obligations, a lack of party support, and a lack of strength at higher rates than men. When voters choose their candidate to support, they tend to focus on leadership skills and decision making abilities — character traits that Americans find female candidates lacking in. The belief that women are less capable than men to run a country stem from unconscious biases in the American people and can also be attributed to how the media portrays female candidates. 62% of Americans believe there is too much media focus on a woman’s physical appearance and 47% say there is too much focus on a woman’s personality.
During the 2024 presidential race, media programs analyzed Harris’ body language and facial expressions: going so far as to critique the amount at which she smiled. After conceding the day after the race was officially called against her, media outlets called Harris a “Sore Loser” for her delay to address her supporters and the American people. Former President Trump has still not conceded his loss of the 2020 election. Women in power are unlikeable; men in power are looked up to. Women are encouraged to suppress their vulnerability and compassion; men are praised for showing it. This double standard extends beyond elected seats — it reflects the deep-rooted history of sexism in America that permeates work environments, industries, and the education sector. Despite decades of social progress for women’s rights, today’s political climate reveals the beliefs of the American people haven’t caught up with legislation. The U.S. needs to confront and condemn sexist hate speech circulated by the public, the media, and male candidates because it’s about time we have our first female president.
Madison Placencia (PPS ’27) is from Jefferson, Georgia and is a Public Policy Undergraduate at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. This piece was submitted as an op-ed in the Fall ’24 PUBPOL 301 course. This content does not represent the official or unofficial views of the Sanford School, Polis, Duke University, or any entity or individual other than the author.
