Candid Conversations: Black Women Political Elites and Appearances

Brown, Nadia E.; Lemi, Danielle Casarez

doi:10.1093/oso/9780197540572.003.0004

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…It is important to extend this research to better clarify how the strategic use or avoidance of gender stereotypes shifts in response to the gender of their opponent. Other contextual factors that could shift the use of gendered traits in attack or contrast messages included the race or ethnicity of an opponent or the sponsor of the ad (Brown & Lemi, 2021; Cargile, 2021). Future work should examine how the gendered and racialized context of a campaign shifts the strategic communication choices made by candidates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When there are two women running against one another, gender stereotypes are not helpful informational tools because the same feminine stereotype is likely to be applied to both candidates. The all-women context means that voters may use different candidate cues to evaluate women include the race or ethnicity of the woman and/or partisanship of the women among other characteristics (Brown & Lemi, 2021; Cargile, 2021). The decreased salience of gender stereotypes decreases the likelihood of a backlash for violating feminine norms, and “frees” women to use attack ads.…”

Section: Gendered Trait Negativitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Women Attack: Candidate Reliance on Feminine and Masculine Traits in Campaign Negativity

Bauer

Hewitt

Labbe

2023

Communication Research

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We develop a framework to identify how women use negative messages in political campaigns. We argue that women will be more likely to use contrast negativity, messages that include a negative message against an opponent and a positive message about the candidate sponsoring the ad, rather than attack negativity, messages that only criticize an opponent. We also identify how feminine and masculine traits emerge in negativity—a strategy we call gendered trait negativity. We analyze gendered trait negativity in television ads from the Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) for House, Senate, and gubernatorial races from 2010 to 2018. Using logistic regression models, we find that women use contrast messages more than attack messages when running against a man. Second, we find that women are more likely to highlight feminine traits over masculine traits in negative messages when their opponent is a man relative to when their opponent is a woman.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gendered Trait Negativitymentioning

confidence: 99%

How Women Attack: Candidate Reliance on Feminine and Masculine Traits in Campaign Negativity

Bauer

Hewitt

Labbe

2023

Communication Research

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“…To complement our advertising analyses, we turn to an experiment. To assess voter response to Latinas’ messages about feminine issues (H2 and H3) and minority group issues (H4 and H5), we relied on a survey experiment that allows us to systematically examine the positionality of Latinas as candidates embodying multiple, overlapping social identities (Brown and Lemi 2021; McCall 2005).…”

Section: Analyzing Latinas’ Campaign Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While most research on political candidates focuses on a single social identity, such as just race or just gender, McCall (2005) clarifies that intersectionality cannot be understood by simply combining the effect of race/ethnicity and the effect of gender to study individuals. Scholars need to study these categories through a holistic approach because individuals simultaneously belong to multiple identity groups and the intersection of these identities influences the way individuals are perceived-an argument recently echoed by Brown and Lemi (2021). Given the increasing demand for diversity in representation in U.S. decision-making bodies, coupled with the growing prominence of Latinas as political leaders, our research seeks to resolve this ambiguity by adopting an intersectional lens to understanding the positionality of Latinas on the campaign trail, their legislative priorities, and representational responsibilities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Intersection of Candidate Gender and Ethnicity: How Voters Respond to Campaign Messages from Latinas

Santia

Bauer

2022

The International Journal of Press/Politics

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Despite the recent surge of women of color in elected political office in the U.S., the representation of Latinas is strikingly low. Past research offers unclear conclusions as to whether Latina political candidates face biases due to the intersection of their identities as women and as ethnic minorities, and how Latinas can navigate such biases. In this study, we identify how Latinas draw on their intersectional identities as both women and ethnic minorities to develop strategic campaign messages and how voters respond to such messages. Through an analysis of campaign advertising data and an original survey experiment, we show that Latina candidates do not face an automatic disadvantage based in gender and ethnic biases, but they can benefit from the intersection of these two identities, especially among female minority voters. These results are consequential because they offer insights into how to improve the descriptive and substantive representation of marginalized groups in the U.S.

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“…This disillusionment within the Democratic party became evident when 31 Black women, who were either elected officials or activists, wrote an open letter addressed to Democratic National Convention chair, Tom Perez. The letter, entitled There’s Too Much at Stake to Ignore Black Women , emphasized the point that the Democratic party has taken the support of Black women for granted and called for true inclusiveness [3] (Gillespie and Brown, 2019; Brown and Dowe, 2020; Brown and Casarez Lemi, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy lifting: authentic talent development and leadership obtainment for Black women state legislators

Wrighten

2022

EJTD

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply a novel intersectional framework, the heavy lifter theory, to leadership attainability in state legislatures. It is a logical and unique way to examine the gender ascription of Black women. This work helps to shed light on the political behavior of Black women, the institutional obstacles they face, and the lasting power of ancestral talent development. Design/methodology/approach One way to examine this intersectional theory, as it relates to Black women and authentic talent development in a sociocultural context, is an examination of leadership attainment in state legislatures. The specific research question was: What is the probability that Black women will attain leadership in state legislatures in comparison to Black men and white women? This study used panel data that have individual-level data on state legislators from 2007 to 2014 and applied a logistic regression and a predictive probability. Findings Intersectionality, measured as the interaction term between sex and race, increases the probability of Black women earning formal leadership positions in state legislatures. In addition, Black women attain leadership positions at higher rates than both Black men and white women. Originality/value This research presents a historical context by which to understand and examine the gendered nature of the ascription process of Black women. Specifically, their experience as a marginalized group burdened them with the duty of the heavy lifter. Although being the heavy lifter is a burden, this focus on Black women’s ability to thrive under constant discrimination in the form of racism and sexism should give scholars pause. In looking at Black women legislators’ ability to gain leadership, the heavy lifter identity can potentially be a vehicle through which Black women legislators can find a sense of purpose and both psychological and social strength to forge their own unexpected path.

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Candid Conversations: Black Women Political Elites and Appearances

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

How Women Attack: Candidate Reliance on Feminine and Masculine Traits in Campaign Negativity

How Women Attack: Candidate Reliance on Feminine and Masculine Traits in Campaign Negativity

The Intersection of Candidate Gender and Ethnicity: How Voters Respond to Campaign Messages from Latinas

Heavy lifting: authentic talent development and leadership obtainment for Black women state legislators

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