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The "double-bind" bias all our female leaders & candidates face
https://www.forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/10/23/not-very-likeable-here-is-how-bias-is-affecting-women-leaders/#1de7f3a0295fStudies have shown that unconscious bias is rife in the workplace. Gender stereotypes, in particular, are everywhere. It is in the language that we use, and it is the way we perceive women in the workplace.
Female leaders, in particular, can be affected by a double-bind bias or the problem of a mismatch between what is expected of a leader, and what is expected from a woman. Psychology research has shown that there are two primary kinds of gender bias that affect women, called the descriptive and prescriptive bias. Descriptive bias is the labels we attach and associate with certain social groups and communities, and prescriptive bias is how they are expected to behave. And, when someone does not conform to these prescribed roles and behaviors they can be penalized or punished. Women, for instance, are traditionally expected to be caring, warm, deferential, emotional, sensitive, and so on, and men are expected to be assertive, rational, competent and objective. So, when it comes to promotion, these traits are sometimes automatically prescribed to people as per their gender without detailed information about their personalities, thereby a man, in general, is assumed to be a better fit as a leader.
The other side of this is prescriptive bias is when a woman does not fit the role that is traditionally assigned to her and attempts to claim a traditionally male position is seen as breaking the norm. So, when a woman is decisive, she might be perceived as "brusque" and "abrupt". Therefore, for the same kind of leadership behavior, women might be penalized while a man is commended.
This is the problem of "likability", where women who are not assertive and fit the gender stereotype of a woman as being gentle and caring are liked more but not considered as leadership material. On the other hand, women who display traditional "masculine" qualities such as assertiveness, forcefulness, and ambition are labeled as "bitchy", unfeminine and aggressive, and hence generally disliked. In both cases, women are then less likely to be promoted than a man. Men do not face the same problem, because what is considered "bossy" in a woman are considered leadership qualities in a man.
Female leaders, in particular, can be affected by a double-bind bias or the problem of a mismatch between what is expected of a leader, and what is expected from a woman. Psychology research has shown that there are two primary kinds of gender bias that affect women, called the descriptive and prescriptive bias. Descriptive bias is the labels we attach and associate with certain social groups and communities, and prescriptive bias is how they are expected to behave. And, when someone does not conform to these prescribed roles and behaviors they can be penalized or punished. Women, for instance, are traditionally expected to be caring, warm, deferential, emotional, sensitive, and so on, and men are expected to be assertive, rational, competent and objective. So, when it comes to promotion, these traits are sometimes automatically prescribed to people as per their gender without detailed information about their personalities, thereby a man, in general, is assumed to be a better fit as a leader.
The other side of this is prescriptive bias is when a woman does not fit the role that is traditionally assigned to her and attempts to claim a traditionally male position is seen as breaking the norm. So, when a woman is decisive, she might be perceived as "brusque" and "abrupt". Therefore, for the same kind of leadership behavior, women might be penalized while a man is commended.
This is the problem of "likability", where women who are not assertive and fit the gender stereotype of a woman as being gentle and caring are liked more but not considered as leadership material. On the other hand, women who display traditional "masculine" qualities such as assertiveness, forcefulness, and ambition are labeled as "bitchy", unfeminine and aggressive, and hence generally disliked. In both cases, women are then less likely to be promoted than a man. Men do not face the same problem, because what is considered "bossy" in a woman are considered leadership qualities in a man.
From today's Media Matters for America newsletter:
Right-wing media launched sexist and racist attacks. While Trump was calling for unity, his close allies in right-wing media were showing how hollow the entire exercise is.
Right-wing figures predictably targeted Democratic women with sexist smears at the State of the Union address this week, attacking everything from their facial expressions to the clothes they wore. One image shared by Infowars, Ann Coulter, and a right-wing radio host who frequently appears on Fox News even compared the dozens of congresswomen wearing "suffragette white" to the Ku Klux Klan.,
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