Political scientists have conducted considerable research on the gender gap in voting in the US, mostly using survey data to examine possible explanations for gender differences. My interest in the gender gap is very different; I am concerned with the politics surrounding the gender gap and its deployment as a political tool. My primary focus in this paper is on the years immediately following the emergence of the gender gap in the 1980 election when the political strategies still evident today were first developed. As part of a larger project analyzing the politics of the gender gap in presidential elections over time, this paper examines the origins of the gender gap, the struggle over its political meaning and consequences, and its political deployment by both the feminist left and feminism’s opposition on the right from1980 to 1984.
Organizations and activists involved in the women’s movement were critical in identifying and publicizing the gender gap. The gender gap became a significant tool in their last-ditch effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and their campaign to have a woman added to the Democratic presidential ticket in 1984. Similarly, the Reagan administration employed a number of strategies in an attempt to counter the gender gap and minimize its potential adverse effects on Republican election outcomes, including showcasing women in high-visibility positions, denial and displacement onto other subgroups, and emphasizing lack of adequate communication and understanding of the administration’s policies.
In examining the US gender gap during its early years, I rely on an exhaustive examination of articles published in the Washington Post and the New York Times from 1980 through 1984 using the ProQuest Historical Newspapers archives. I also draw upon other available historical documents.
