Understanding why it is so difficult to break the highest and hardest glass ceiling : Gender, double binds, and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign

This thesis offers an understanding of the double binds that female candidates encounter when running for the White House by analyzing Hillary Rodham Clinton’s acceptance speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. First, we explore the various structural and attitudinal reasons why American women are underrepresented in politics. We then focus our investigation on the ‘double bind’ hypothesis that states that women entering politics will have to face non-choice situations which, in either way, lead to consequences and penalties for women as society’s expectations are contradictory. Accordingly, we test this hypothesis by investigating whether Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech provides evidence of three double binds: femininity/competence, equality/difference, and dependence/independence. Our analysis reveals that Ms. Clinton was indeed constrained by the femininity/competence and equality/difference double binds, as well as by dependence/independence double bind that was unique to her candidacy. Thus, we conclude that even the most experienced female candidate faces barriers to political success in the form of double bind dilemmas.