Stereotype Crossroads: Investigating the Interplay of Gender and Religious Symbols in Shaping Political Stereotypes in Flanders (Belgium), Turkey and the UK

An extensive literature on women’s access to political power, drawing primarily from work on Western Democracies, suggests a variety of conditions that lead to the disproportionate “winnowing out” of women at the various stages: as eligibles become aspirants, as parties select candidates among the aspirants, and as voters chose representatives among the candidates. This paper focuses on the final stage of the recruitment process, in which voters’ gender stereotypes are seen as an important hurdle creating obstacles for women in politics. Gender stereotypes refer to the idea that on the basis of politicians’ sex, voters ascribe particular personality traits, capacities and opinions to politicians (Huddy & Terkildsen, 1993). The aim of this study is to present a comparative account of the prevalence of gender stereotypes in Flanders (the largest region of Belgium), Turkey and the UK and to investigate how the prevalence of these stereotypes intersects with, or is reinforced by, other identity markers such as religious symbols. Unlike countries of Western Europe, patriarchal countries with Muslim-majority populations such as Turkey have so far been omitted from the literate on gender stereotypes, although they present an intriguing case for comparison as patriarchal practices and understandings are seen as serious hindrances to women’s access to political power. This study, based on an original online survey experiment conducted among representative samples of the respective populations, shows that the dynamics of voters’ stereotypes manifest differently in various sociopolitical environments, thereby highlighting the necessity of considering contextual factors when interpreting the implications of voters’ stereotypes.