Strong and caring? The stereotypic traits of women of color in politics

Abstract

We apply a theory of stereotype subtypes and subgroups from social psychology to clarify whether there is a uniform “women of color” stereotype and whether there are differences in the stereotypes ascribed to women across different racial and ethnic backgrounds. We test the extent to which positive feminine and positive masculine stereotypes comprise the stereotype content of not only Latinas and Black women but also Asian women, Native American women, and Muslim women vying for political leadership roles. Using three empirical tests, we test for the presence of a unique women of color stereotype category that fits into a subtype that differs from the stereotypes of female politicians more generally. We also test for whether subgroups defined by a woman’s race and/or ethnicity exist within the broader women of color stereotype category. We find limited evidence of a unique women of color subtype or subgroup stereotypes as individuals make few distinctions between women belonging to different racial and ethnic categories. These results have implications for the abilities of Latinas, Black women, Asian women, Native American women, and Muslim women to run for and win political office.

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