The Gender Continuum? Femininity, Masculinity, and Vote Choice in a Comparative Perspective

When candidates deviate from gendered norms, does it influence voters? In vote choice experiments, scholars generally focus on the effect of a candidate’s sex on vote decisions in the United States. My theoretical contribution is to recognize that gender norms affect candidate choice beyond simply the sex of the candidate. For example, a preference for a male candidate might not necessarily be a preference for men but a preference for masculinity. Likewise, a preference for a female candidate might not be a preference for women but a preference for femininity. To examine how theories of gender norms and stereotypes apply in different contexts, I conduct the first cross-national conjoint experiment to examine how a candidate’s expressed level of femininity/masculinity affects their electability. My experimental design addresses recent criticisms that candidate choice experiments confuse vote choice and strength of preference.