CommentsBCK FILE-In 2018, 117 women were either appointed to or elected to Congress. Just two years earlier, only 89 women had been elected. The increase led to the media designation as The Year of the Woman. Yet, just one year later, the four women who have thrown their hats into the Democratic presidential primaries are getting less media coverage than the men.
Reporters Dhrumil Mehta and Oliver Roeder (FiveThirtyEight) looked at the shares of news coverage on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC for Democratic candidates whose campaigns had been launched since December 31. What they found was that mentions of Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Beto O’Rourke saw “dramatic, mountainous peaks in mentions immediately following their announcements.” Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), as well as Corey Booker (D-NJ) had “more modest bumps in coverage.” Both Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) had much smaller bumps in coverage following their announcements.
When female candidates do receive coverage, it is more likely to be negative. StoryBench from Northeastern University School of Journalism analyzed 130 articles from mainstream media outlets and found that 2020 female primary candidates were receiving less positive attention in the media than their male counterparts.
Female candidates appear to be viewed with far greater scrutiny than their male counterparts. Amy Klobuchar has been called out for being a “bad boss” and for eating salad with a fork. Kamala Harris has faced criticism for a long-ago relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown and for her taste in music. In 2016, Hillary Clinton was critiqued for everything from her wardrobe choice and voice to her marriage while Donald Trump got a free pass for the Access Hollywood tape and a whole slew of sexist comments he made publicly on the campaign trail and throughout the years. “Boys will be boys.”
Traits well-regarded in men, such as ambition or assertiveness, may not be as valued in women. Male candidates can run campaigns based on personality, while female candidates are expected to have a fully fleshed out platform. Ideally, all candidates would present clear policy agendas.
Although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, Trump’s ascension to the presidency may make people question whether a woman can beat Trump in 2020.
Closer to home, the Los Angeles City Council has only two female members, Nury Martinez (District 6) and Monica Rodriguez (District 7). In the June 4 special election for District 12, only three women have declared candidacy, Stella Maloyan, Loraine Lundquist, and Annie Eunwoo Cho.
What can we do to change the landscape? Organizations such as Emily’s List, and in Los Angeles, Ignite and L.A. Women’s Collective play a significant role in encouraging and supporting female candidates for office. As an increasing number of women hold offices and even positions of power in the private sector, we will hopefully change society’s expectations of gender roles so that we can look at both female and male candidates through the same prism.
(Beth Cone Kramer is a professional writer living in the Los Angeles area. She covers Resistance Watch and other major issues for CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
