A survey from Cosmopolitan revealed that almost half of the site’s viewers believe Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers would be higher if she were a man.
The survey was administered in collaboration with John Della Volpe, the CEO of SocialSphere and director of polling at the Harvard Institute.
“According to the survey of nearly 1,200 women between the ages of 18 and 34 who said they are highly likely to vote in the upcoming election, selected randomly from among Cosmopolitan.com newsletter subscribers, 47 percent say that if Clinton were a man, she would be higher in the polls, while 18 percent say she would be lower in the polls and 35 percent say there would be no difference,” Amelia Thomson-Deveaux reported.
Regardless of the fact that Clinton is the first female Democratic presidential nominee, gender barriers are still apparent to voters.
“If she had her same resumé and she was a man, there’s no doubt she’d be doing better in the polls,” Tierra Richmond told Cosmopolitan. “I’m sure there are people who are thinking, ‘We just elected the first black president and now you want a woman in the White House too?'”
Another woman, 2o-year-old student Rachel Echevarria, expressed her concern for gender barriers.
“I think there are still a good number of people out there who don’t want a female president,” Echevarria said. “She can be experienced, she can be smart, but they still won’t vote for her.”
The sentiments expressed represent more than half of young women, as “when 18- to 29-year-olds were asked whether a glass ceiling (a barrier to advancement in a profession) exists for women in America today, nearly three in five (59 percent) indicated yes,” a Harvard Institute for Politics poll noted. “Young women are significantly more likely to believe a glass ceiling exists (68 percent), compared to men (50 percent).”
Though the numbers are high, voter outlook changes by political affiliation.
“Likely voters who identified as Democrats were substantially more likely than Republican-identified voters or political independents to say that Clinton’s gender was having a negative impact on her performance in the polls,” Thomson-Deveaux observed. “Nearly 70 percent of Democrats said that Clinton would be higher in the polls if she were a man, while 8 percent said she would be lower in the polls and 23 percent said there would be no difference.”
A differing perspective from 22-year-old stay-at-home mom Ashley Hackenmiller suggested feminism is a critical aspect of voter decision making.
“I think some people are actually voting for her because she’s a woman,” Hackenmiller said. “But I also believe that sexism is alive and well and that there are plenty of people who don’t want to see a woman in the White House. So it can cut both ways.”
Come November, the winning nominee will clarify many of those sentiments, as gender barriers continue to direct conversation between left- and right-leaning voters.
