As Republican presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin hit the campaign trail together, there will be continuing scrutiny of the media’s alleged sexist coverage of the Republicans’ first woman candidate.
While Palin and Hillary Clinton are putting cracks in the glass ceiling below America’s highest office, they are still battling that double-bind for women in power – being seen as too womanly or not womanly enough, says a Vanderbilt University expert on women and the media.
"Sarah Palin is especially interesting because she fulfills some requirements of womanliness in that she has lots of kids and is pro-life, but is now getting heat for not dedicating herself enough to her children," Bonnie Dow, Vanderbilt University associate professor and chair of communication studies, said.
"People are asking, ‘Her teenage daughter is pregnant, she has a 5-month-old special needs child, yet is running for vice president – should she do that with all those responsibilities?’"
However, Dow says Palin and Clinton will not be painted with the same brush.
"Sexism in the media is always contextual – that is, the kind of sexism directed at a progressive Democrat is going to be different from that directed at a conservative Republican," she said.
Dow also says the two women are likely to have different views about sexism.
"Clinton and Palin differ generationally. Clinton is old enough to remember legalized sexism, because she came of age in the late 1960s. Palin is at least 15 years younger; so, she is less likely to have felt it in the same way – largely because of the successes of the feminist movement. So, Clinton will identify more with the need for feminism, while Palin will not. This is not simply because Palin’s a Republican, but because she grew up in a different world."
(Vanderbilt has a 24-7 broadcast facility with a dedicated fiber optic line for live TV interviews and an ISDN line.)
Media contact: Princine Lewis, 615-322-NEWS
princine.lewis@vanderbilt.edu