Race vs. Gender

The news for Hillary seems to be all bad, so I am turning to articles that explain this bad news in terms of gender bias:

"And if the ample literature on bias shows anything, it is that, for all the difficulties Americans have with race, it may prove that attitudes about women are the hardest to change." -- From a Boston Globe article, Black man vs. white woman.  Read the article.

From a Ellen Goodman column:  The female style - modeled by a man:  "If Hillary Clinton was the tough guy in the race, Barack Obama became the Oprah candidate. He was the quality circle man, the uniter-not-divider, the person who believes we can talk to anyone, even our enemies. He finely honed a language usually associated with women's voices. ...

"Ilene Lang heads Catalyst, which surveyed more than 1,200 senior executives in the United States and Europe. This research calculated the tenacity of double binds and double standards. It showed how hard it still is for a woman to be seen as both competent and likable. And it led her to the conclusion that "What defines leadership to most people is one thing. It's male."

"As for the Obama style? "Both men and women are much more likely to accept a collaborative style of leadership from men than from women. From women it seems too soft," she adds ruefully.

"Hillary was quite right that she needed to be seen as the experienced, competent, commander in chief. Obama was quite right about the country's desire to reach across boundaries and beyond divisiveness.

"We have ended up in a lopsided era of change. After all, how many of us wanted to see male leaders transformed from cowboys to conciliators? Now we see a woman running as the fighter and a man modeling a 'woman's way' of leading. We see a younger generation in particular inspired by ideas nurtured by women, as long as they are delivered in a baritone.

"So, has the women's movement made life easier? For another man?"  Read the article.