For instance, with men, younger and less-experienced males are encouraged to run for office and are judged on their potential. In comparison, only women who have an extensive party experience and a strong background are accepted party candidates. Evidently, there is a higher standard set for women than there is for males. Similarly, women also see bias within political parties by being chosen as a candidate only for unwinnable contests while being overlooked for races in which the party has a good chance of winning. Clearly, this practice is used as a tool for keeping women out of leadership positions. Both of these practices could be explained by a 1998 study conducted by David Niven where it is found that party elites consistently prefer and recruit candidates that are similar to themselves. Women are often not party elites. A final noteworthy aspect of female candidates and political parties is, it has been found that female candidates that identify with the Republican party are actually disadvantaged at winning the election solely due to their sex. Because women are more likely to be democrats, even when female candidates identify with the Republican party, they are still looked at as more …show more content…
Voters’ gender stereotypes have had potentially negative implications for women candidates, especially those in higher office. . As Ford states, voters prefer male characteristics in candidates in higher office. This inevitability creates a lose-lose situation for female candidates who have to appear strong enough for leadership but feminine enough to be authentic. This was a challenge Hillary Clinton faced in the 2016 Presidential Election. When she smiled, she was deemed as unqualified, when she did not smile; she was called “cold”. The presence of gender stereotypes remained relevant in the 2016 Presidential Election when Clinton was often criticized of things that her male counterpart or previous presidential candidates would have never been criticized for. For example, when Clinton was sick at a 9/11 Memorial, the media accused her as being “too old” and “too sickly” to be president. Hillary Clinton is younger than her once running-mate, Donald Trump. In addition, America has had presidents who have had medical problems in the past, such as FDR, who died after being elected to a third term. The idea that Clinton is “too old” or “too sickly” to serve, while older men or sick male candidates and elects are seen as “strong” clearly demonstrates the difference in standards female candidates are held to in opposition to male