GENDER STEREOTYPES IN FEMALE CANDIDATES' APPEARANCE.

Hantong Li; Xuejing Xu

This paper discusses the impact of gender stereotypes on American female politicians. Due to traditional assumptions, women in power exclusively are subject to a "double bind" that expect them to possess both feminine and masculine traits. Specifically, this paper will demonstrate female candidates' struggles through the lens of appearance, focusing on candidates' wardrobe choices. It will then use the political life of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to illustrate this issue. Throughout her career as a public figure, Clinton constantly changed her sartorial strategies in order to meet voters' expectations. Through the examples of Clinton and other female politicians, this paper seeks to demonstrate the impact of gender stereotypes on society's perceptions of female candidates' appearance, an area many deem as irrelevant or trivial to the core of politics. The paper urges voters to limit discussions on female candidates' appearance as the first step to encourage more female representation in politics.

GENDER stereotypes; CLINTON, Hillary Rodham, 1947-; SOCIAL role; POLITICAL leadership

European Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2021, Issue 5, p97

2414-2344

Academic Journal

10.29013/EJHSS-21-5-97-106