The 2020 presidential race has a historic number of women in the running. After 243 years, one would think that the U.S. would have had a female president by now, or at least a primary with more than two women.

However, the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University says that’s not the case. Until the 2020 race, more than two women have never competed at the same Democratic or Republican primaries.

With the bias that female candidates face from media outlets, it’s not surprising that it’s taken so long for women to infiltrate the male-dominated candidacy.

A study by Northeastern University senior Alex Frandsen found that female candidates were described more negatively in the media than male candidates.

While a more comprehensive report will be released in June, the latest analysis of the five most-read news websites showed that Democrats Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker and Beto O’Rourke are portrayed more positively than female rivals Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Maybe these women are just facing more scandals than the men. Warren does have the ancestry test; Klobuchar has the comb incident; Harris has the prosecutorial past; and Gillibrand has the accusations of mishandling sexual assault allegations.

However, Sanders called white Floridians who didn’t feel comfortable voting for an African-American candidate “not necessarily racist.” Booker sexually assaulter a friend in high school. O’Rourke was arrested in the past for burglary and DWI and more recently, made the joke multiple times that his wife raised their three kids “sometimes with my help.”

Why does the media amplify the women’s issues but continues to portray the men in a positive light?

Femininity in society is associated with passiveness or timidness, but the presidency is characterized by ambition, opinion, passion and tough nature. For female candidates, raising their voices and speaking their minds go against the stereotypes of what a woman should be, but for male candidates, these types of traits are celebrated.

Now let’s compare. Klobuchar has been called a tough boss, accused of mistreating her staff, which the comb incident shows. Ignoring how common it is to find a “mean boss” in politics, Sanders has also been accused of mistreating staff members, however, these accusations against him aren’t garnering near the same attention or backlash that Klobuchar has received.

A former staff member for Sanders even told the Vermont newspaper Seven Days that Sanders was “unbelievably abusive” and claimed “to have endured frequent verbal assaults.”
Seven Days also reported that multiple former staff members for Sanders said that he “is prone to fits of anger.”

Former vice president Joe Biden is likewise known to be temperamental, but while their behavior is brushed under the rug, the media highlights Klobuchar’s spouts of anger.

Next. Like Sanders, Warren’s campaign is centered around specific policy proposals and ideas, but she is hounded by media about the ancestry test and her likeability, as Frandsen’s study found a large amount of her coverage in the media surrounded key words like “native” and “tribal”. But a significantly fewer amount of Sanders’ key words refer to personality or personal issues.

The media’s obsession with women’s personality quirks, appearance and voices is a long-time issue in politics (along with many other areas). If a woman had a bad spray tan and a bird’s nest for hair, she wouldn’t even make it to the primaries. A woman giving off the same rumpled and ranting vibes as Sanders would essentially place a target on her back for the media.

Valerie Sperling, a professor of political science at Clark University and an expert on gender politics, feels the 2016 Democratic primary exemplifies these double standards and stereotypes. “Hillary Clinton was frequently criticized for her voice and for ostensibly ‘shouting,’ whereas Bernie Sanders was not criticized for that, as it is seen as appropriate for men to raise their voices, but not for women to do so.”

While male candidates like Sanders and Biden could be receiving more coverage because of their long careers and nationwide recognition, it doesn’t explain the amount of coverage Mayor Pete Buttigieg is receiving.

Remarking on how a 37-year old female mayor of a small town wouldn’t receive the same coverage, author of The H Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness Jill Filipovic tweeted, “If you think a 37-year-old whose sole political experience is mayor of South Bend is better qualified than a female senator who is a political visionary and has put forward a slew of detailed and thoughtful policies, you may have a sexism problem.”

To end these biases, voters need to consider whether they dislike a candidate because their behavior is violating gender norms or because their platform is unpalatable.

Author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny Kate Manne encourages voters to compare candidates. “If you are critical of a woman on certain grounds, you should look toward your favorite male politician and see whether he has similar features,” she said. “It can actually be quite surprising how certain criticisms go under the radar when it’s a male candidate.”

In the end, however, the solution is simple: representation. In a diverse and representative government, everyone wins. Otherwise, there’s no one to speak up for the minorities, no one to go against general beliefs, and no one to offer a new perspective. Simply, if representation remains the way it always has, then the future of our country will be the same as its past.

Kayla Mayer can be reached at maye8518@stthomas.edu.