If you’re female and running for president, you better be perfect

[ehrnst]

When women leaders step into territory traditionally occupied by men, something odd happens, according to research by Victoria Brescoll, a social psychologist at the Yale School of Management. Brescoll cites a case in which a male police chief made a mistake managing protesters and compares his favorability with a female police chief in the identical situation. His mistake cost him a 10 percent loss in favorability; she plummeted 30 percent.

We expect a great deal from a female candidate for president. It’s called perfection. The slightest stumble is magnified ten-fold. Compare Clinton’s e-mail carelessness with any of Trump’s deliberate false activities with Trump University, his bankruptcies, and the complaints from his vendors who still are waiting to be paid. Men wear imperfection comfortably. Some voters are incredibly forgiving of male politicians’ mistakes. “Boys will be boys,” but girls must be goddesses.

Women are almost as susceptible to subconscious gender bias as men. We have to check ourselves so that we don’t fall into the trap of expecting the impossible from Clinton. Such as those who say they will not vote for Clinton, but will wait to vote for another woman. Believe me, any woman who is the first woman will be put to a similar litmus test because she is stepping into male territory.

As Clinton battled to win the most votes and delegates to earn the Democratic nomination, she had to be a fighter to prove that she is qualified to hold the toughest job in the world. But a self-promoting woman who raises her voice is rarely attractive. Studies have shown that when a woman shouts, she is considered a scold. When a man raises his voice, he is passionate, strong, and authentic. Men like Trump can deviate from the customary political game and get away with it. Women are inclined to be caught in the middle. They must play the game by the old rules, but be ready to toss them out. It is ironic that nominating the first woman for the presidency will mark a political sea change, but simultaneously, Clinton has become a victim of perceived politics as usual.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/07/24/you-female-and-running-for-president-you-better-perfect/pc48BL905o0tBwDAfTG4BN/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed

[PatSeg]

1. This is true

And your hair and clothes had better be perfect.

[WhiteTara]

2. But not too expensive

and don't smile so much and smile some more.

[PatSeg]

4. Colors should not be too drab,

but absolutely not too bright!

The smile thing always gets me. Even with celebrities, women are expected to smile more or they will be seen as cranky or bitchy. If they smile too much however, they are fake mannequins.

Oh and be careful with that laugh!

[BobbyDrake]

7. And speak up, but don't shout. Be ambitious, but not TOO ambitious.

Most importantly, be yourself, even if doing so makes people call you "inauthentic."

[AgadorSparticus]

3. Very true!!! This applies for poc, too. Ask anyone of color and they

Will tell you: you have to do twice the work or be perfect in order to garner the same respect to garner the same level playing field.

[ehrnst]

8. Like Sidney Poitier - he had to be the 'exemplary negro' in every role he played

Malcolm Jamal Warner talked about doing the role Poitier created in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." He talked about how Poitier had to be perfect in order for the white audience to accept him in that proximity to a white woman on screen - diction, clothing, no anger whatsoever. He said that he could be freeer to express a wider range for the character because he wasn't pioneering the idea of a black man on screen.


There is no way anyone like Samuel L. Jackson would have been cast as anything but a street hood in that era.

[niyad]

5. so very, very true.

[Orsino]

6. It's like being a Democrat, but with ten times the flak from twice as many parties. n/t