Nikki Haley made a subtle reference to the historic nature of her candidacy when she announced her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination this week.
“I don’t put up with bullies,” Haley said in a video announcing her bid to become the United States’ first female president. “And kicking back hurts them even more if you’re wearing heels.”
Haley has a long list of accomplishments, including becoming South Carolina’s first female governor and representing the United States at the United Nations. However, her introduction captured the balancing act that women, particularly conservative women, frequently face when aspiring to the top job in American politics.
They must demonstrate toughness in order to compete against rivals who are almost always men for a job that has previously only been held by men. However, there is an invisible line that cannot be crossed for fear of appearing too tough and repelling voters.
“We’ve seen a higher level of Republican women running and winning in recent elections,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research and a scholar at Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics. “But what you also see these women often doing is working hard to meet that double bind. … ‘I’m tough, but I’m also feminine,’ she says. I’m also living up to my feminine expectations.”
Sexism in politics isn’t limited to one political party, with women in public life frequently under pressure to appear “likable” in ways that men aren’t. A male moderator pressed Hillary Clinton on the “likability issue” in relation to her opponent, Barack Obama, during a Democratic primary debate in 2008.
“I don’t think I’m all that bad,” Clinton said. “You’re likable enough, Hillary,” Obama interjected.
Recently, prominent Democratic women have attempted to project toughness in their campaigns as well. Former MMA fighter Sharice Davids sparred in a 2018 ad for a Kansas congressional seat. Amy McGrath, who ran against Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in 2020, touted her background as a Marine fighter pilot.
However, the dynamics are different in Republican politics, where voters tend to hold more traditional views about stereotypical gender roles, according to Dittmar. This may encourage Republican women seeking high-level positions to demonstrate both their toughness and femininity. She recalled how, as a vice presidential candidate in 2008, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin introduced herself with a joke comparing hockey moms to a pitbull with lipstick.
“It’s another way to cue” voters that candidates are both tough and feminine, according to Dittmar.
Haley’s formal announcement on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina, was peppered with examples. According to one congressman, Haley rules with “an iron fist in a velvet glove.” Otto Warmbier’s mother, who died after being held and tortured in North Korea, said Haley taught her how to fight while also checking on her with the compassion of a fellow mother. In addition, Haley urged voters to send “a tough-as-nails woman to the White House.”
Haley is one of only five prominent Republican women to run for office this century. According to CAWP, 12 Democratic women have been prominent candidates, including six in 2020. Among the 12 are Clinton, the party’s 2016 nominee, and Kamala Harris, the country’s first female vice president.
Women face additional challenges that their male counterparts do not, such as online abuse that disproportionately targets women, particularly women of color.
Former President Donald Trump, Haley’s main rival for the nomination thus far, has a long history of insulting his opponents, including women with sexist attacks that include criticizing their appearance.
During the 2016 election, Clinton’s campaign accused Trump of repeatedly interrupting her during a debate, comparing it to a frustrating experience many women have with men. Trump also criticized the appearance of Carly Fiorina, the last major Republican female candidate to challenge him for the presidency.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the last of six women to withdraw from the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential primary, cited sexism as a factor, noting that the two remaining candidates were white men. Trump said her issue was a “lack of talent,” and he called her mean and unlikable.
Prior to Haley’s announcement, Trump referred to her as “a very ambitious person,” telling conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt that Haley “just couldn’t stay in her seat.” He also claimed to have given Haley his blessing before she reversed her earlier decision not to challenge him. “I told her, ‘You know what, Nikki, if you want to run, you run.'”
Haley, a former state legislator, and accountant who became South Carolina’s first female and first Indian American governor is no stranger to sexist and racist attacks.
She has written and spoken about growing up as the only brown-skinned family in a small town as the daughter of Indian immigrants. During her 2010 campaign for governor, a state lawmaker used a racial slur to reference her. Later, he apologized.
Former Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks, who led the Republican Party’s efforts to recruit and elect more women to the U.S. House, called Haley’s candidacy “good for the party” and the country.
Olivia Perez-Cubas is the spokeswoman for Winning For Women, a group formed to help elect more Republican women after Democratic women led a House takeover in 2018. She stated that the group wants to ensure that the Republican Party is representative of the United States, which means more diversity, including more women.
She also believes that having more women in office or running for office will help Republicans attract more female voters, who have historically supported Democrats over Republicans in presidential elections. According to the AP VoteCast, a broad survey of the electorate, 55% of women voted for Joe Biden in 2020, while 43% voted for Trump.
“Voters like to see and hear themselves reflected in the ballot box,” she explained. “And it’s great for everyone if we can put forward a strong female candidate.”
Nonetheless, Perez-Cubas admitted that, as in many professions, the bar for women is “always just a little bit higher.”
Tudor Dixon, a Republican businesswoman, became the state’s first female governor nominee after defeating four male opponents in the 2022 primary. Some voters were surprised by her nomination, according to Dixon, including one woman who liked the Republican policies but said, “I just can’t vote for you because you have four girls and I don’t think you should be leaving them.”
Michigan was one of five states with two women running for governor in 2022, a US record. However, it also resulted in “disgusting” comparisons between herself and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, such as who was younger or more physically fit — discussions that rarely occur in contests between two men, according to Dixon.
She praised Haley for entering the race, saying it was not an easy decision.
“You are personally targeted. “You put yourself out there, and it’s difficult,” she explained. “However, young women should see that they can do it and that the future is one in which women do the same things as men.”
Evelyn Sanguinetti, Illinois’ first Latina lieutenant governor when she worked for Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, had similar campaign experiences. She was enthusiastic about Haley’s candidacy, noting the historic significance of electing a woman of Indian descent who, she said, could lead with empathy and compassion at a time when the country is deeply divided.
“I’d like our daughters to see that because we’ve been seeing a lot of males, especially white males, for a long time,” Sanguinetti said.
In her speech on Wednesday, Haley made a point of rejecting so-called identity politics. But she stood on stage, dressed in the suffragette movement’s white, with a message for her opponents.
“I will simply say this as I embark on this new journey,” Haley said. “May the best woman triumph.”
