Introduction
The 21st century has seen a major uptick in presidential campaigns by female politicians. This has marked a major change in the social attitude surrounding opportunities for women as they pursue a political role that, in the United States, has only ever been held by men. A central question, and a prominent point of debate, among these campaigns is if a woman is qualified to be the leader of the United States. The most notable campaigns by female candidates (in terms of success and popularity) have been those by Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley, and Kamala Harris, all of whom ran against President Donald Trump. During their campaigns, each woman employed different strategies to control and strategically manipulate the narrative surrounding her womanhood and femininity.
In their campaigns, female candidates face the strategic question of how to present their womanhood – a set of characteristics that has historically been viewed as a hindrance in their run for political office. In an analysis of female political campaigns, the necessity of addressing gender is pertinent: “Female candidates do not ignore feminine traits, but strategically and conditionally use these qualities.” [1] However, it requires a balancing act, as overemphasizing their womanhood could also have negative repercussions in the public sphere.[2] In her 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton placed her gender at the forefront of the campaign, and often returned to the historic nature of her campaign, in an attempt to draw a contrast between herself and President Trump. In her bid for the Republican nomination, Haley wielded her femininity as a weapon, striving to highlight the strengths of womanhood and how femininity can be presidential. In her 2024 presidential campaign, Harris attempted to deemphasize her womanhood, and avoid the double-bind of identity politics. The ways in which Clinton, Haley, and Harris chose to present their gender is not solely determined by political ideology, but rather was determined by political considerations in their races against President Trump.
Hillary Clinton & The Glass Ceiling
In her bid for presidency, Hillary Clinton boldly embraced her femininity and made it a major selling point of her campaign. As the first woman to secure a major party nomination, Clinton shaped the rhetoric of being a female presidential candidate. In her 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton often framed her bid for presidency in terms of its historic nature and spoke frequently of breaking the “glass ceiling.”[3] By acknowledging the groundbreaking nature of her campaign, Clinton intentionally placed her gender at the forefront. This emphasis on her womanhood highlights Clinton’s view of her gender as an asset to her campaign. She strategically embraced her femininity as she thought it would elevate her campaign and make her more popular with the American people: “[Clinton’s] 2016 campaign did more to feature her female sex as an asset, and not a deficit, and she invoked a more feminist ideology on the campaign trail.” [4] This strategy attempted to control the narrative on Clinton’s womanhood. By painting her feminine traits as assets, the campaign minimized gendered criticisms of Clinton.
However, even though Clinton viewed her womanhood as an asset, she had to strategically balance those traits with a conversation surrounding her experience and masculine traits: “Evidence of trait-balancing emerged in the 2016 presidential campaign when Hillary Clinton talked about ‘being a woman’ but strategically balanced this message by emphasizing her work ethic and leadership experience.” [5] By highlighting her qualifications and more masculine traits, Clinton went beyond the idea of the female politician. Although Clinton was qualified and possessed prior political experience, by emphasizing her masculine traits as well, she showed that she was capable in the same way as any male politician.
Clinton’s political opponent, Donald Trump, often made attacks against Clinton based on her sex. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said that Clinton did not have a ‘presidential look’: “By invoking the ‘presidential look,’ Trump made salient stereotypical notions of presidential leadership, which typically favor men and not women.”[6] As all presidents have been men, by drawing attention to Clinton’s physical appearance – and the ways in which it lacks – Trump turned her womanhood into a political weakness and a point to attack. This highlights the drawbacks to female politicians centering their womanhood. Although it can be an asset to their campaign, it also opens them up to another line of attack that men are not subjected to.
Nikki Haley & Her High Heels
During her presidential campaign, Nikki Haley embraced and even weaponized her feminine traits against her political opponents. However, her nuanced stances on women’s issues ultimately led to her womanhood being a detriment to her campaign. Throughout her bid for the Republican party nomination, Haley often drew attention to her womanhood. She did this through repeated mentions to her high heels:
Ms. Haley, like the women candidates before her, must balance the qualities we expect of women (warmth, femininity) with what we expect of leaders (authority, strength). By taking the most feminine of objects — a heel — and turning it into a weapon is essentially her way of saying ‘I wear heels, but I’m tough.’[7]
Haley weaponized her heels and her femininity, an attempt to close herself off from having it weaponized against her. In doing so, Haley asserted that women – and high heels – can be powerful, and presidential. It was not necessary for Haley to sacrifice her fashion and femininity to be a successful politician.
Haley also placed women’s issues to the center of her campaign. She highlighted the empowerment of women and the importance of protecting young girls.[8] Through emphasizing women’s issues, Haley strategically utilized her gender as an asset. As a woman, she appeared more qualified to talk about the problems that women faced than her male opponents. However, Haley’s advantage may have been a double-edged sword, as she attempted to balance the politics of conservative voters with the politics of more moderate or liberal voters whose support she also sought in the primary election: “Jennifer Horn, the former chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said Haley faces a dilemma on abortion in a GOP primary. But she doesn’t believe Haley went far enough to champion women’s rights in a way that would win over the state’s women and centrist voters.” [9] As a conservative woman running on women’s issues, Haley was in a double-bind with the issue of abortion. Both a pro-life stance and a pro-choice stance would harm her popularity with different groups, whose support she needed in the Republican primary. Ultimately, Haley attempted to take a ‘middle ground’ and lost support on both fronts as this middle ground damaged her popularity with all voters. The dilemma that Haley faced during her presidential campaign was a uniquely female one. As a woman, it was necessary that she attempt to appeal to women and centrist voters – groups of voters that Donald Trump was historically less popular with. However, in doing so, she also risked her popularity with conservatives, and ultimately cost herself the presidential nomination. Nikki Haley shows that as a female politician, it is necessary to appeal to women, even when doing so goes against the party platform and may be detrimental to her political success.
Kamala Harris & Childless Cat Ladies
During her presidential campaign, Kamala Harris attempted to create distance between herself and her femininity. In ignoring the historic nature of her presidential campaign, Harris attempted to invalidate Trump’s attacks against her identity. Unlike Clinton, Harris did not make her womanhood a centerpiece of her campaign, requiring Trump to engage in more debates on the issues, and less debates on her identity.[10] By decentralizing her femininity, Harris has also strategically steered clear of identity politics: “The history-making nature of Ms. Harris’s candidacy excites at least some in the party, but there are also middle-of-the-road voters who recoil from what they see as identity politics.”[11] Harris strode to avoid the controversy of identity politics by not talking about her identity as a woman and person of color. In doing this, she attempted to increase her appeal among more centrist voters, whose support she was reliant upon in determining the outcome of the 2024 election.
Harris’s womanhood has driven the large political divide among men and women, especially younger voters: “Ms. Harris has an advantage of 16 percentage points with likely female voters, while Mr. Trump has an 11-point advantage with likely male voters.”[12] This split between male and female voters highlights how the presentation of femininity by female politicians can be a political issue. By supporting Harris, women voters are signaling approval of her presentation of femininity and what her presidency would mean as the potential first female president.
Attacks based on gender are not limited to the presidential candidates, however, with JD Vance criticizing both Harris and her female supporters, calling them “childless cat ladies.” [13]
These gendered attacks demonstrate that Harris is not immune from criticism because of her femininity, even if she has been unwilling to center it in her campaign. In the days leading up to the election, Trump and his political allies repeatedly emphasized Harris’s womanhood and the issue of gender. [14] These comments and gendered attacks highlight the limitations to female politicians controlling the narrative on their gender. Harris can refuse to address her womanhood, but at the end of the day, the political environment may still allow for gendered attacks against her.
Conclusion
Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley, and Kamala Harris each presented their femininity differently. These presentations of femininity were intentional political strategies to manipulate the public opinion of the candidates, and ultimately, attract more voters. Female politicians face additional barriers to election, as they are subjected to different expectations and gendered attacks. However, Clinton, Haley, and Harris each made history in their presidential campaigns, challenging societal expectations about the role of women. Through different presentations of their femininity, they showed that women can be strong, leaders, and even presidential. Ultimately, these historic campaigns are what is required to elevate the societal role of women and end the stigma around women in politics.
Works Cited
[1] Bauer, N. M., & Santia, M. (2022). Going Feminine: Identifying How and When Female
Candidates Emphasize Feminine and Masculine Traits on the Campaign Trail. Political Research Quarterly, 75(3), p 701.
[2] Conroy, Meredith, Danielle Joesten Martin, and Kim L. Nalder. (2020). Gender, Sex, and the
Role of Stereotypes in Evaluations of Hillary Clinton and the 2016 Presidential Candidates. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 41 (2), p. 195.
[3] Browning, K. (2024). Harris Often Sidesteps Her History Making Potential. Walz Doesn’t.
The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/us/politics/harris-often-sidesteps-her-history-making-potential-walz-doesnt.html
[4] Conroy, et al. (2020). Gender, Sex, and the Role of Stereotypes, p. 195
[5] Bauer, N. M., & Santia M. (2022). Going Feminine, p. 701.
[6] Conroy, et al. (2022). Gender, Sex, and the Role of Stereotypes, p 194.
[7]Bennett, Jessica. (2023). Maybe This is Why Donald Trump Is Afraid to Debate Nikki Haley.
The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/13/opinion/nikki-haley-high-heels.html.
[8] Vitali, A. & Allen, J. (2024). Nikki Haley plays up femininity, plays down feminism in her 2024 pitch. NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/haley-plays-femininity-plays-feminism-2024-pitch-rcna133824.
[9] Allison, N. (2024). Nikki Haley made strides for women in politics.
[10] Brockes, E. (2024). Kamala Harris is steering clear of Hillary Clinton’s feminist messaging
– and it’s working. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/04/kamala-harris-hillary-clinton-feminist-messaging-democratic-donald-trump
[11] Browning, K. (2024). Harris Often Sidesteps Her History Making Potential. Walz Doesn’t.
The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/us/politics/harris-often-sidesteps-her-history-making-potential-walz-doesnt.html
[12] Lerer, L., & Glueck, K. (2024). Why Gender May Be the Defining Issue of the Election. The New
York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/us/politics/harris-trump-election-gender.html
[13] Lerer, L. & Glueck, K. (2024). Defining Issue of the Election.
[14] Bidgood, J. (2024). Trump Still Won’t Stop Talking About Women. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/01/us/politics/harris-trump-womens-health-election.html?searchResultPosition=7