‘Whiny, Fake, and I Don't Like Her Hair’: Gendered Assessments of Mayoral Candidates

Abstract

Municipal mayoral elections present a compelling puzzle: what happens when gendered stereotypes about level of government conflict with those about type of office? Although local politics is viewed as communal and more feminine, the mayoral office is a prominent, prestigious position of political leadership that voters may perceive as more masculine. We intervene by analyzing open-ended comments about 32 mayoral candidates from a survey of 14,438 municipal electors in eight Canadian cities. We argue gendered trait and issue stereotypes are embedded in voters’ assessments of mayoral candidates. We find no evidence that female candidates benefit from their perceived competence in local policy issues, and they experience backlash when they display the traits typically associated with strong leaders. We conclude that, even at the level of government frequently thought of as more open to women, female mayoral candidates are disadvantaged by an enduring association between masculinity and political leadership.

Youth Political Engagement: Exploring the Factors Influencing Political Participation among Noveleta Senior High School

“…In a similar vein, a different study showed that informing voters ahead of time about a significant spending program, as well as the promises and allotments made by mayoral candidates, raised awareness of spending and improved voter understanding of the policies put forth by the candidates. However, this information had no effect on turnout or vote shares (Tolley et al, 2022) [22] . Furthermore, the significance of honesty and making wellinformed choices during the voting process.…”

An Introduction to Volume 59, Issue 4

“…Two additional articles probe questions related to the relationship between gender and urban democracy. Tolley, Lawlor, and Fortier-Chouinard (2023) consider how voters assess women and men running for mayor in Canadian cities. Contrary to the idea that local office would be more hospitable to women, as they would be perceived as “well-suited” to local issues, voters assessed women mayoral candidates more negatively than male candidates.…”

“…They see their findings as offering support for gender quotas. They also assess the presence of women mayors, which we might consider in dialogue with the Tolley, Lawlor, and Fortier-Chouinard (2023) findings; women mayors in Spanish cities had a negative association with government efficiency. Ríos, Guillamón, and Cuadrado-Ballesteros (2023) suggest that social role theory linking female characteristics to responsible behavior in government could explain their findings about councilors; on the other hand, they suggest that women mayors’ decision-making could reflect a different set of individual influences and institutional constraints.…”