Here's an interview with Stephanie Coontz, author of A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s, Marriage, a History, and The Way We Never Were. In it, she offers her perspective on why women voted for trump.
http://www.vox.com/conversations/2016/10/25/13384528/donald-trump-women-stephanie-coontz
This is a great interview with Coontz. I especially liked this: "Women with less economic or personal autonomy are often drawn to a culture of family values that emphasizes men’s responsibility to look after women. Women who have a shot at achieving or competing on their own emphasize equality, supporting the kind of policies that make it possible for them to move up in their jobs and combine work and family."
ReplyDeleteCoontz discusses how elite women have different needs and expectations of society that do not require the help of men. They only require a fair shot at their ambitions. On the other hand, non-elite women who need more social support to survive require the help (obligation) of men. They are not wrong to want this because it makes complete sense that those who are independently wealthy can afford to be individualistic while those living paycheck to paycheck need to rely on their spouses and neighbors more.
It's an issue of disparate realities that generate different political priorities for different groups.