For women candidates,
Mike Webster Jersey, taking ‘high road’ in sexist attacks costs votes
For women candidates, taking ‘high road’ in sexist attacks costs votes
AP100917036087New research out yesterday shows that women candidates will suffer if they meet sexist political attacks with dignified silence.For the study, 800 voters listened to a hypothetical exchange between a male candidate and a female candidate. When the man criticized his rival as an "ice queen,
Felix Jones White Jersey," "mean girl," or even "prostitute,
Aaron Maybin Jersey," 21 percent of voters reported no longer supporting the woman candidate. When the man criticized her solely on policy issues, support only dropped 10 percent.But when the woman candidate calls the man's comments "inappropriate,
Stewart Bradley Jersey," "sexist," or "divisive," her numbers go back up with voters.This led Sam Bennet,
Franco Harris Jersey, the head of the nonprofit Women's Campaign Forum that sponsored the study, to conclude that when she ran for Congress in 2008, she shouldn't have stayed silent when her local newspaper ran a profanity and hate-laced sexist diatribe against her, calling her a "whore" among other things."When I ran for congress in 2008, I experienced a misogyny that was so breathtaking that I decided I needed to do something about," Bennett said, according to TBD's Amanda Hess. "During the campaign, everyone told me just to ignore it. That it doesn't matter. To move on. After my race was over, I realized that I had made a mistake. I should have done something."According to Politico, Bennett says the coverage of Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell has been sexist, though she didn't name specific examples. The feminist blog Jezebel points out that no one of note has insinuated she wouldn't be good at her job because she's a woman.The Women's Campaign Forum has a website that shows what comments count as sexist. The site has already called out The Huffington Post for posting a "do or don't" poll on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's choice of hair clip at the United Nations conference this week.(Photo: O'Donnell/AP.)
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