A Man Observes "When Women Rule"

In yesterday's New York Times, op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof writes eloquently about "When Women Rule."

He reminds us that although we have never elected a woman to lead the United States, other nations have been ruled by women over the centuries. And as Kristof admits, "I have to acknowledge it: Their historical record puts men’s to shame."

Kristof briefly mentions a few of the great women leaders of the past, then goes on to note that in the modern age, the record of women leaders is much less distinguished:

...in democracies in the television age, female leaders...have to navigate public prejudices — and these make democratic politics far more challenging for a woman than for a man.

In one common experiment, the “Goldberg paradigm,” people are asked to evaluate a particular article or speech, supposedly by a man. Others are asked to evaluate the identical presentation, but from a woman. Typically, in countries all over the world, the very same words are rated higher coming from a man.

In particular, one lesson from this research is that promoting their own successes is a helpful strategy for ambitious men. But experiments have demonstrated that when women highlight their accomplishments, that’s a turn-off. And women seem even more offended by self-promoting females than men are.

This creates a huge challenge for ambitious women in politics or business: If they’re self-effacing, people find them unimpressive, but if they talk up their accomplishments, they come across as pushy braggarts.

The broader conundrum is that for women, but not for men, there is a tradeoff in qualities associated with top leadership. A woman can be perceived as competent or as likable, but not both.

Kristof eventually concludes that exposure reduces prejudice, but ends on a cautionary note: "Modern democracies may empower deep prejudices and thus constrain female leaders in ways that ancient monarchies did not."

Examples of those constraints are all around us, especially in this election year.

Related articles:

• Qualities of Women Leaders
• Shirley Chisholm: First Black Woman to Run for President