The Continuing Dominance of Traditional Gender Roles in Southern Elections^*

Abstract

Objective. Studies of the election of women to public office have been increasingly encouraging about their prospects of female candidates. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which gender roles continue to influence the election of women to local office and the pool of candidates for higher office. Methods. Utilizing data on the gender of officials, the nature of the office, and constituency demographics from county elections in eight Southern states, we construct logit models of the election of women. Results. Women hold few local offices involved in fighting crime or of an executive nature. On the other hand, women routinely win election to process-oriented offices with less discretion. Our analysis of constituency demographics reinforces our conclusions. Women win election in areas where the public office is relatively undesirable compared to other opportunities and the ratio of high-quality male to high-quality female candidates is relatively low. Conclusions. Although the frequent election of women to county office provides an expanded pool of female candidates for higher offices, it seems unlikely that women will find it as easy to move up the electoral ladder into the more competitive arena of high-profile statewide and federal leadership offices.

Stalking Myth-Attributions: Examining the Role of Individual and Contextual Variables on Attributions in Unwanted Pursuit Scenarios

“…It has been documented that Southern cultures exhibit more tolerance for the use of aggression when confronted with a face threat (e.g., an interpersonal rejection) and thus they may exhibit more stalking myth endorsement Cohen 2003, 2008). Traditional gender roles are also more pervasive in the South (Lublin and Brewer 2003) and thus gender differences that show up regarding adopting the perspective of pursuer vs. rejecter may not show up in more egalitarian samples. At the same time, the endorsement of these traditional gender roles may include greater endorsement of chivalry and benevolent sexism that create a cultural norm that men should protect women (Felson 2002).…”

Republican Lambs and the Democratic Pipeline: Partisan Differences in the Nomination of Female Gubernatorial Candidates

“…Therefore, we include the percentage of women in the workforce for each state in a given election year 5 . Likewise, scholars suggest that region may impact the nomination of women to elective office (Burrell 1994; Lublin and Brewer 2003). Like much of the study of American politics, our regional focus concerns the South.…”

Academic Entitlement Scale: Development and Preliminary Validation

“…For example, individuals from the Southern part of the United States tend to adhere more strongly to traditional roles and attitudes (e.g., Conlee, 2012;Lublin & Brewer, 2003;Rice & Coates, 1995;Secret, 1987) as well as being socialized in to a culture of honor (Nisbett & Cohen, 1996). Because socialization can vary as a function of region and culture, we should not be surprised that various psychological constructs, such as academic entitlement and narcissism, vary as well (Foster et al, 2003).…”