Image, Stereotypes and Privacy

After our discussion in class about image and stereotypes and how the media is focusing much more of this things in women, I began thinking in the connection they have with what Kunin in “Pearls, Politics, and Power” calls “privacy”.

Even though women and men have suffered a loss of privacy, there are more women’s stereotypes than men’s and that is why people expects more “traditional” women as a candidate.

For a single woman running for office the question she will get is if she is a lesbian or why is she have not get married? For a woman with children the question will be who is taking care of the children?

These things would be brought up immediately and if you do not fit on the “image” of what people want you to be, you will become a “treat to the establishment” as Kyrsten Sinema said on the book.

What it came to my mind is if those stereotypes are bigger when you are a woman, lesbian, single, African American, Hispanic, etc? In these cases the loss of privacy will be worse than candidates with “good image”?

I was thinking in that when I read Tammy Baldwin’s response when somebody asked her if being a lesbian was an issue for her. She said: “We certainly live in a country and a world where homophobia still exist, but frankly, sexism still exist, racism still exist. Being a woman, being a lesbian, all those issues you have to deal with. There are clearly some people who would never dream of voting for me because I’m a woman and because I’m a lesbian”(p. 30).

She is saying that she has to deal with 2 things: 1) being a woman and 2) being a lesbian. The question is if a man who is openly gay has to deal with just one thing: being gay?? In that case, we (women) have to deal with our gender first and then with all the other things uncommon for society. So, “yes, gender does make a difference”! (p.82).