Watch: Women on the Run

Bernie bros, Hillary Clinton’s “cackle,” accusations of harassment in Trump Tower: gender has been front and center this election cycle. Voters and pundits alike fret that sexism on the part of the media, the candidates, and the electorate has an outsize effect on election results at every level of government.

But is gender bias on the campaign trail really so prevalent? As Danny Hayes and Jennifer Lawless discuss in their new book Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era, today’s politics are about polarization even more than gender. As party positions diverge and female politicians proliferate, gender just doesn’t matter as much as we might think. In fact, our perception of bias might hold women back more than bias itself.

In the latest event in New America’s Women’s Decision series, Hayes and Lawless join the Better Life Lab and the Political Reform Program for a conversation on what campaign discourse gets wrong about female candidates and how to fix politics’ persistent gender gap.

Follow the discussion online using #WomenWant and following @NewAmerica @BetterLifeLab and @PolReformNA.

Lunch will be served.

Participants:

Danny Hayes 
Associate Professor of Political Science, George Washington University 
Author (with Jennifer Lawless), Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era

Jennifer Lawless 
Professor of Government and Director of Women & Politics Institute, American University
Author (with Danny Hayes), Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era

Moderator: