When XX marks the ballot: Six gender myths

By JoNel Aleccia
Health writer
msnbc.com
updated 7:16 a.m. PT, Mon., Oct. 27, 2008
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Less than two weeks before an election marked — some would say scarred — by historic firsts for female candidates, the presidential campaigns are still convulsing over the classic question: “What do women want?” Whether they’re fretting over the neck-and-neck race for the votes of married women or striving to bolster support among still-undecided baby boomers, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are trying to seal the deal with the ladies, whose turnout is expected to be large — and crucial. Despite the attention lavished on female voters during this nearly two-year campaign, persistent myths linger about how and why women vote the way they do.
It's still widely assumed that women automatically align with gender or are solely responsible for the gender gap, analysts note.
Here’s a primer on the most common myths about women voters, gleaned from interviews with political scientists and pollsters and a review of past voting patterns. Myth No. 1: Women vote as a group The myth of a single-minded sisterhood among women voters alternately amuses and annoys political scientists, especially those who must routinely remind people that diversity abounds among more than half of the nation’s population. “Women aren’t a monolithic vote,” said Barbara Norrander, a political science professor at the University of Arizona. Women make up not only more of the general population, but also more of the adult voters, totaling about 67 million in the 2004 presidential election, compared to 58 million men, according to U.S. census reports. But unlike slightly more predictable ethnic, racial or religious groups, women do not share a common geography of place, persuasion or philosophy. And they certainly don’t vote in a united bloc.