Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-f46jp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-04T22:35:45.321Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Choosing the Velvet Glove: Women Voters, Ambivalent Sexism, and Vote Choice in 2016

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2018

Lorrie Frasure-Yokley
Lorrie Frasure-Yokley*
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Lorrie Frasure-Yokley, University of California, Los Angeles. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which ambivalent sexism toward women influenced vote choice among American women during the 2016 Presidential election. I examine how this varied between white women and women of color. The 2016 American National Election Study (ANES) features several measures from the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI)—a scale developed by Glick and Fiske (1996) to assess sexist attitudes toward women. An index of these measures is used to examine the extent to which ambivalent sexist attitudes influenced women's vote choice for Donald Trump, controlling for racial resentment, partisanship, attitudes toward immigrants, economic anxiety, and socio-demographics. On the one hand, my findings indicate that ambivalent sexism was a powerful influence on women's Presidential vote choice in 2016, controlling for other factors. However, this finding, based on a model of all women voters is misleading, once an intersectional approach is undertaken. Once the data are disaggregated by gender and race, white women's political behavior proves very different than women of color. Among white women, ambivalent sexist views positively and significantly predicts vote choice for Trump, controlling for all other factors. However, for women of color, this relationship was negative and posed no statistical significant relationship to voting for Trump. Scholarship in gender and politics that does not account for group differences in race/ethnicity may present misleading results, which are either underestimated or overestimated.

Keywords

intersectionalitywomen and politicscomparative racial and ethnic politicselectoral behaviorpolitical behaviorracial attitudeswhiteness studies
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 3 , Special Issue 1: Race, Religion, Gender and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election , March 2018 , pp. 3 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allport, Gordon W. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. New York: Addison.Google Scholar
ANES. 2017. American National Election Studies, Time Series Study 2016 University of Michigan and Stanford University: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt, Frasure-Yokley, Lorrie, Vargas, Edward D. and Wong, Janelle. 2017. The Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), 2016. Dataset: Los Angeles, CA.Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt, Frasure-Yokley, Lorrie, Vargas, Edward D. and Wong, Janelle. 2018. “Best practices in collecting online data with Asian, Black, Latino, and White respondents: evidence from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-election Survey.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 60 (1): 171–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2017.1419433Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt and Segura, Gary. 2014. Latino America: How America's Most Dynamic Population is Poised to Transform the Politics of the Nation. New York, NY: PublicAffairs Books.Google Scholar
Berry, Justin, Chouhoud, Youssef and Junn, Jane. 2016. “Reaching Beyond Low-Hanging Fruit.” In The Oxford Handbook of Polling and Survey Methods, eds. Atkeson, Lonna Rae and Michael, R.. Alvarez: Oxford University Press. October. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190213299.013.1.Google Scholar
Bock, Jarrod, Byrd-Craven, Jennifer and Burkley, Melissa. 2017. “The Role of Sexism in Voting in the 2016 Presidential Election.” Personality and Individual Differences 119: 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.07.026Google Scholar
Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., De Boef, Suzanna and Lin, Tse-Min. 2004. “The Dynamics of the Partisan Gender Gap.” American Political Science Review 98 (3): 515–28. doi: 10.1017/S0003055404001315.Google Scholar
Brians, Craig Leonard. 2005. “Women for Women? Gender and Party Bias in Voting for Female Candidates.” American Politics Research 33 (3): 357–75. doi: 10.1177/1532673×04269415.Google Scholar
Brown, Nadia E. 2014. Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carroll, Susan J. 1999. “The Disempowerment of the Gender Gap: Soccer Moms and the 1996 Elections.” PS: Political Science and Politics 32 (1): 7–11. doi: 10.2307/420743.Google Scholar
Carroll, Susan J. 2006. “Moms Who Swing, or Why the Promise of the Gender Gap Remains Unfulfilled.” Politics & Gender 2 (3): 362–74. doi: 10.1017/S1743923X06231088.Google Scholar
Cassese, Erin C., Barnes, Tiffany D. and Branton, Regina P.. 2015. “Racializing Gender: Public Opinion at the Intersection.” Politics & Gender 11: 1–26. doi: 10.1017/S1743923X14000567.Google Scholar
Cohen, Cathy. 2003. “A Portrait of Continuing Marginality: The Study of Women of Color in American Politics.” In Women and American Politics: New Questions, New Directions, ed. Carroll, Susan J.. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 190–213.Google Scholar
Collins, Patricia Hill. 1990. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Boston: UnwinHyman.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 140: 139–167.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43 (6): 1241–99. doi: 10.2307/1229039.Google Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen. 1997. “Gender Differences in Support for Women Candidates.” Women & Politics 17 (2): 27–41. doi: 10.1300/J014v17n02_02.Google Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen. 2004. Voting for Women: How the Public Evaluates Women Candidates. Boulder, CO: Westview Pr.Google Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen. 2014. When Does Gender Matter? Women Candidates and Gender Stereotypes in American Elections. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen. 2016 “Party trumps gender in voting…but this year may be different.” http://presidentialgenderwatch.org/party-trumps-gender-voting-year-may-different/.Google Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen and Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2009. “Gender Stereotypes and Attitudes toward Gender Balance in Government.” American Politics Research 37 (3): 409–28. doi: 10.1177/1532673×08322109.Google Scholar
Gates, Henry Louis 1996. “Hating Hillary.” The New Yorker, February 26, 1996.Google Scholar
Gay, Claudine and Tate, Katherine. 1998. “Doubly Bound: The Impact of Gender and Race on the Politics of Black Women.” Political Psychology 19 (1): 169–84.Google Scholar
Glick, Peter and Fiske, Susan T.. 1996. “The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating Hostile and Benevolent Sexism.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70 (3): 491–512.Google Scholar
Glick, Peter and Fiske, Susan T.. 1997. “Hostile and Benevolent Sexism Measuring Ambivalent Sexist Attitudes toward Women.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 21 (1): 119–135.Google Scholar
Glick, Peter and Fiske, Susan T.. 2001. “An Ambivalent Alliance: Hostile and Benevolent Sexism as Complementary Justifications for Gender Inequality.” American Psychologist 56 (2): 109–118.Google Scholar
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2007. “When Multiplication Doesn't Equal Quick Addition: Examining Intersectionality as A Research Paradigm.” Perspectives on Politics 5 (1): 63–79.Google Scholar
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2014. “Bridging the Feminist Generation Gap: Intersectional Considerations.” Politics & Gender 10 (2): 292–296.Google Scholar
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2016. Intersectionality: An Intellectual History. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hardy-Fanta, Carol, Lien, Pei-te, Pinderhughes, Dianne and Sierra, Christine Marie. 2016. Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Harris-Perry, Melissa V. 2011. Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hooks, Bell. 1981. Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Boston, MA: South End Press.Google Scholar
Hooks, Bell. 1984. Feminist Theory From Margin to Center. Boston, MA: South End Press.Google Scholar
Jackman, Mary. 1994. The Velvet Glove: Paternalism and Conflict in Gender, Class, and Race Relations. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Jackson, James S., Torres, Myriam, Caldwell, Cleopatra H., Neighbors, Harold W., Nesse, Randolph M., Joseph Taylor, Robert, Trierweiler, Steven J. and Williams, David R.. 2004. “The National Survey of American Life: A Study of Racial, Ethnic and Cultural Influences on Mental Disorders and Mental Health.” International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 13 (4): 196–207.Google Scholar
Jordan-Zachery, Julia S. 2007. “Am I a Black Woman or a Woman who is Black? A few Thoughts on the Meaning of Intersectionality.” Politics & Gender 3 (2): 254–63.Google Scholar
Jost, John T. and Banaji, Mahzarin R.. 1994. “The Role of Stereotyping in System-Justification and the Production of False Consciousness.” British Journal of Social Psychology 33 (1): 1–27. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.1994.tb01008.x.Google Scholar
Junn, Jane. 2016. “Hiding in Plain Sight: White Women Vote Republican.” http://politicsofcolor.com/white-women-vote-republican/.Google Scholar
Kam, Cindy D. and Burge, Camille D.. 2017. “Uncovering Reactions to the Racial Resentment Scale Across the Racial Divide.” The Journal of Politics 80 (1): 314–320. doi: 10.1086/693907.Google Scholar
Kilianski, Stephen E. and Rudman, Laurie A.. 1998. “Wanting It Both Ways: Do Women Approve of Benevolent Sexism?” Sex Roles 39: 333–52. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018814924402.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald and Kam, Cindy. 2009. Us versus Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald and Sanders, Lynn. 1996. Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald and Sears, David O.. 1981. “Prejudice and Politics: Symbolic Racism versus Racial Threats to the Good Life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 40 (3): 414–31.Google Scholar
King, Deborah K. 1988. “Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: the Context of a Black Feminist Ideology.” Signs 14 (1): 42–72.Google Scholar
McElwee, Sean and McDaniel, Jason. 2017. “Economic Anxiety Didn't Make People Vote Trump, Racism Did.” The Nation 31 (5). https://www.thenation.com/article/economic-anxiety-didnt-make-people-vote-trump-racism-did/Google Scholar
McMahon, Jean M. and Barsamian Kahn, Kimberly. 2015. “Benevolent Racism? The Impact of Target Race on Ambivalent Sexism.” Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 19 (2): 169–183.Google Scholar
Mercer, Andrew. 2016 Oversampling is Used to Study Small Groups, not Bias Poll Results. Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center.Google Scholar
Orey, Byron D‘Andra. 2012. “Black Opposition to Progressive Racial Policies and the “Double (Non)Consciousness” Thesis.” Race and Policy 8: 52–66.Google Scholar
Orey, B. D., Smooth, W., Adams, K. S. and Harris-Clark, K.. 2006. “Race and Gender Matter: Refining Models of Legislative Policy Making in State Legislatures.” Journal of Women Politics & Policy 28 (3–4): 97–119. doi: 10.1300/J501v28n03_05.Google Scholar
Parker, Christopher Sebastian. 2016. “Race and Politics in the Age of Obama.” Annual Review of Sociology 42 (1): 217–30. doi: 10.1146/annurev-soc-081715-074246.Google Scholar
Parker, Christopher S. and Barreto, Matt A.. 2013. Change They Can't Believe in: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Philpot, Tasha S. and Walton, Hanes Jr. 2007. “One of Our Own: Black Female Candidates and the Voters Who Support Them.” American Journal of Political Science 51 (1): 49–62.Google Scholar
Prestage, Jewel L. 1977. “Black Women State Legislators: A Profile.” In A Portrait of Marginality: The Political Behavior of the African Woman, eds. Marianne Githens and Jewell Prestage. New York: David McKay, pp. 401–418.Google Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2002. “Gender Stereotypes and Vote Choice.” American Journal of Political Science 46 (1): 20–34. doi: 10.2307/3088412.Google Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2003. “Political Knowledge and Gender Stereotypes.” American Politics Research 31 (6): 575–94. doi: 10.1177/1532673×03255167.Google Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, Kira and Dolan, Kathleen. 2012 “Gender Stereotypes and Gender Preferences in American Politics.” In Improving Public Opinion Surveys: Interdisciplinary Innovation and the American National Election Studies, eds. Aldrich, John H. and McGraw, Kathleen M.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 260–277.Google Scholar
Schaffner, Brian F., MacWilliams, Matthew and Nteta, Tatishe. forthcoming. “Explaining White Polarization in the 2016 Vote for President: The Sobering Role of Racism and Sexism.” Political Research Quarterly.Google Scholar
Sharrow, Elizabeth A., Strolovitch, Dara Z., Heaney, Michael T., Masket, Seth E. and Miller, Joanne M.. 2016. “Gender Attitudes, Gendered Partisanship: Feminism and Support for Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton among Party Activists.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 37 (4): 394–416. doi: 10.1080/1554477X.2016.1223444.Google Scholar
Sidanius, Jim and Pratto, Felicia. 1999. Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sidanius, Jim, Pratto, Felicia, van Laar, Colette and Levin, Shana. 2004. “Social Dominance Theory: Its Agenda and Method.” Political Psychology 25 (6): 845–80.Google Scholar
Simien, Evelyn. 2006. Black Feminist Voices in Politics. Buffalo: New York State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Smooth, Wendy. 2006. “Intersectionality in Electoral Politics: A Mess Worth Making.” Politics & Gender 2 (3): 400–14. doi: 10.1017/S1743923X06261087.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M. and Carmines, Edward G.. 1997. Reaching Beyond Race. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Strolovitch, Dara and Wong, Janelle. 2017. “Centering Race and Gender, Intersectionally.” Political Science Now. Accessed February 9. http://www.politicalsciencenow.com/2016-election-reflection-series-centering-race-and-gender-intersectionallyGoogle Scholar
Strolovitch, D. Z. 2007. Affirmative Advocacy: Race, Class, and Gender in Interest Group Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Tesler, Michael and Sears, David O.. 2010. Obama's Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of a Post-Racial America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Tien, Charles. 2017. “The Racial Gap in Voting Among Women: White Women, Racial Resentment, and Support for Trump.” New Political Science 39 (4): 651–669. doi: 10.1080/07393148.2017.1378296.Google Scholar
Tuch, Steven A. and Hughes, Michael. 2011. “Whites’ Racial Policy Attitudes in the Twenty-First Century: The Continuing Significance of Racial Resentment.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 634 (1): 134–52. doi: 10.1177/0002716210390288.Google Scholar
Vance, J.D. 2016. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. New York, NY: Harper.Google Scholar
Wilson, David C. and Davis, Darren W.. 2011. “Reexamining Racial Resentment: Conceptualization and Content.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 634 (1): 117–33. doi: 10.1177/0002716210388477.Google Scholar