Does Your Opponent's Gender Make a Difference? A Content Analysis of the Use of Gender Stereotyped Issues in Female Candidates� Campaigns in a Mixed-Gender versus an All-Women Races.

Abstract

All-women races are steadily growing in politics as more women run with every election. While research shows how women campaign and face stereotypes when facing a male opponent or a female opponent, it does not assess how candidates may change their strategies when facing a male opponent or a female opponent. I ask if female candidates’ campaign differently on stereotypic issues between a mixed-gender election to an all-female election, specifically looking at the use of Twitter. These results showed that Democratic female candidates used more feminine-based issues facing a female opponent versus a male opponent. These results also show that Republican female candidates use more feminine issues facing a female challenger, but Republican women do not face male opponents as much as Democratic women. As such, the gender of the opponent for a female candidate will increase the use of feminine issues, but it could also be dependent on more factors than the opponent's gender.