From Hollywood to the news industry, the nation has recently been confronted with the ugly — even dangerous — perils of being a woman in male-dominated fields. But a women-in-politics group is out with new research that’s a palette cleanser: It’s an excellent time for women to be running for office.
For voters, a candidate’s party matters above all else. And while gender matters, too, historically for women, it has not been in a positive way. There are long-held double standards on likability, appearance and even having a family, for example.
However, now, new research by the nonpartisan Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which aims to get more women elected, found that women are better positioned than men to leverage voters’ low trust in institutions.
Americans are sick of the status quo. And since the status quo in politics is mostly male and mostly white, a female candidate can use that to her advantage to win elections, according to the foundation’s survey of 1,500 likely 2018 voters.