"She Just Doesn't Have the Presidential Look"

This thesis exploressexism's impact on the results of the 2016 presidential election as it relates to Hillary Clinton's loss. Two primary explanationsreflect on how American misogyny led to Clinton's shocking loss, despite her being an obvious frontrunner throughout the election. Firstly, the environment that developed whenthe prominent femalepoliticianhistorically won a major Party nomination was discouragingfor a Clintonvictory. Secondly, Donald Trump presented himself as the masculine antithesis to Hillary Clinton throughemphasizing traits stereotypically associated with men. Additionally, Trump's tactics primarily consisted of frequent gender based attacks against his opponent. Despite Clinton's vast qualifications, and Trump's inexperience, he managed to win the U.S. Presidency, making clear implications about gender bias in politics. Throughout history women have continuously faced gender discrimination in all aspects of life, andparticularly within politics. This stems from a belief that women are better suited in the private sphere, while men excel in public life, including holding office. It has proven to be significantly harder for women to win, and maintain political positions, due to harmful gender stereotypes. Women are assumed to be less qualified, untrustworthy, and continuously are held to a higher standard due to social norms put in place for women. Hillary Clinton had served in the public eye for over three decades by the time she ran for president in 2016, and established a reputation as a woman who was unwilling to conform to gender norms. Clintonwas the first woman to have this great of a chance at winning the presidency, whichimmediatelyresultedinmassive sexist backlash. Trump took advantage of this, constantly associating Clinton with multiplenegative traits believed to beheld by women, including weakness, instability, and appearance based insults.