Three Essays on the Political Economy of Gender
Date of Award
Spring 2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Rosenbluth, Frances
Abstract
The role that gender plays in American politics is increasingly important, but the nature of how gender, sexism, and gender norms affect politics has changed tremendously over time. This dissertation explores several questions that are central to our understanding of gender, political economy, and American politics today. What happens politically and socially when gender norms are threatened? What are the political implications of threats to the power and status that traditional gender norms have given American men? How does sexism work in electoral politics today? Do Americans misperceive women's electability in politics? How do heterosexual couples decide who will do what within the home, and how do they understand what is fair? This dissertation explores these questions in three chapters that analyze the role that gender plays in American politics in the 21st century. This project investigates how gender, gender norms, sexism, masculinity, and threats to men's status affect and change political attitudes, political preferences, voting behavior, and individual's understanding of what is or is not fair within the home. The findings of this project help us understand the role that masculinity and threats to it play in American politics today, how sexism in elections has changed over time, and when American men and women consider their roles in the home to be fair or not.
Recommended Citation
Hutchinson, Annabelle, "Three Essays on the Political Economy of Gender" (2023). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 1004.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/1004
