Traditional vs. Modern Gender Gaps within the Election Process

This week’s readings concentrate on the inconsistencies of voting patterns during the election process among men and women in Latin America. These readings dissect the various influences that contribute to the inequalities women endure when evaluating voter turnout and participation. The findings, in regards to this concept, in the article by Jana Morgan, focus on two critical groupings, ones in which explore further into the understanding of what prompts voters, specifically women, to vote the way they do. According to Morgan, the two central types mentioned are that of either the “traditional gender gaps” or the more “modern gender gaps,” where each form portrays differing features that inevitably appeal to various types of voters, more specifically focused towards women. Based on Morgan’s definitions, the “traditional gender gap” refers to women in nations where conservative approaches are more commonly tolerated, whereas the mentioned “modern gender gap” supports the more leftist nominees. These two dominant types of groupings produce further findings that clarify and expose the behaviors and intentions for as to why women vote the way they do, and what contributing factors each of these groupings offers that appeals more to women than to men.

In Latin America, there is a significant determination of traditional-leaning outlooks amongst women. This further proposes that women have remained more traditional in their principles than men, becoming less expected to participate in politics altogether compared to men in Latin America.  However, as Morgan has described, there are key factors that contribute to gender dissimilarities as to what aspects women endure in their lifetime that causes the outcomes we are beginning to see within the developing world. Influences such as employment rate among women, female manifestation in politics, and the overall development towards equality, depict intriguing insights as to what women consider important, therefore seeking these attributes within running applicants.

How women are brought up and treated throughout society conveys crucial insight into voting behavior, for education and employment are key motivators as to whether a women voter is oriented towards a more traditional or a more modern candidate, yet as Morgan mentions, Latin America is in the process of transitioning, at least in some countries, where more traditionally garnered aspects are slowly modernizing. This transition can be accounted for as a result to the increase of women in the work force, as well as the mounting development of empowering women both educationally and economically. These elements play a vital role in the voting process, which can be expressly associated to today’s election in the United States with a female candidate running, for women are more inclined to vote for female candidates because they feel as though women candidates can relate more to the female populace, campaigning to the issues women deem more important, even if men do not.