"Exodus of men" is driving "gender gap" politics

Lisa Baldez, Ph.D. Professor of political science Arts & Sciences (314) 935-4724 labaldez@artsci.wustl.edu http://artsci.wustl.edu/~polisci/baldez/

Lisa Baldez, Ph.D., a professor of political science in Arts & Sciences and an expert on women's issues, has a distinctive take on the American political phenomenon dubbed the "gender gap."

"Everyone -- from the pundits to the political strategists -- suggests that women are the target audience of this election," said Baldez. "They focus on the fact that Gore evidently has a big lead among women, but is even or slightly behind among men. I question their logic. Research that I've seen shows that the exodus of men -- much more so than the addition of women -- has driven the so-called gender gap in the last two decades. Women's support for the Democratic Party has remained fairly stable over the past several decades, while men's support has dropped significantly. Even in 1980, when the head of the National Organization of Women first 'discovered' the gap, it was men's strong attraction to Reagan -- not women's attraction to Carter -- which formed the basis for the disparity."

Baldez is skeptical about the media focus on the gender gap.

"In some respects, it is a bit insulting," she said, referring to the pundits attributing of Gore's surge to the kiss that he planted on his wife Tipper.

"Yet according to a Gallup Poll," she continued, "women's support for Gore rose 18 percent after the Democratic convention, which suggests that women did respond to 'the Kiss.' Overall, however, the situation is a bit more nuanced: On the one hand, the increasing focus on issues that the strategists believe women care about is a positive development -- it shows that politicians are at least attempting to appeal to women. For instance, Gore has recently spoken about wage equity -- and a recent poll indicated that 95 percent of women support equal pay laws. On the other hand, by repeating ad nauseam that education and family values and health care are 'women's issues,' you eliminate an opportunity to build a broader coalition of support for those kinds of programs. Moreover, you tend to exaggerate the stereotype of women as 'softer, caring types,' who are unconcerned about other important issues such as defense or taxes."

Baldez acknowledges that focusing on the gender gap may make sense from a strategic point of view; women make up a majority of undecided voters, for example. But she cautions that a short-term focus on gender differences may have pernicious consequences in the long run.

"For the Democrats, a focus on women has come at the expense of men's votes, as research by Anna Greenberg and others has shown. We need to think about issues like taxes and government spending in a way that both genders can support."