Gender and Voting Behavior

THE IMPACT OF gender on the voting behavior of the American electorate began to seep into consciousness after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. This act granted women the right to vote in 1920. While a majority of the research related to gender and the voting patterns of Americans has focused on the trends of female voters, the voting conduct of male voters has also evolved over the decades. The voting behavior of each sex continues to have significant impact on the outcomes of local, state, and national elections.

The early legal foundations of the United States separated the sexes into two spheres, public and private. This legal basis stemmed from English common law, the legal system based on tradition, customs, and precedent. Men represented the public sphere, and women the private sphere. This separation, usually based on patriarchal notions, resulted in men being the sole delegate for issues outside of the household, including voting rights. The early founders of the United States saw politics as an exclusively male domain. Early supporters of women's voting rights were called suffragists. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, were powerful advocates for women's political rights during the 1800s and early 1900s.

After a 72-year struggle, women garnered the right to vote. But even after women were able to cast a ballot in local and national elections, many women did not exercise their right. The initial lack of voter turnout by women has been attributed to a number of factors. Women may have needed some time to learn how to incorporate voting as a behavior into their lifestyle. Also, strong gender-role expectations encouraged women to [Page 275]view voting as something their husband or father was in charge of and did not see their vote as an important part of their role as a woman.

Three suffragists casting votes in New York City, c.1917. Early women's organizations, like the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the League of Women Voters, spearheaded women's direct involvement in voting issues.

However, among the seeds of the woman's suffrage movement was the seed of broader social participation. For example, women began to organize around issues they cared about, particularly civil rights, prohibition, domestic violence, and the welfare of children. Early women's organizations, such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the League of Women Voters, spearheaded women's direct involvement in domestic and international public policy issues and organized women to vote across the country.