Photo by Oxana Melis
The gender gap, coined by Feminist Majority Foundation founder and president, Eleanor Smeal, describes the percentage difference between women and men voting for a specific candidate and has existed since at least the 1980 presidential election. In that election, while a slim majority of women did vote for Ronald Reagan, they did so at a rate of 8 points less than their male counterparts. As Smeal wrote in The Feminization of Power, “the gender gap in voting and public opinion shows that a significantly larger percentage of women voters than men voters support women’s rights, civil rights, legal abortion, and increasing public spending for social programs.”
Since 1996, women have consistently favored Democratic candidates, including in 2016, when most women voted for Hillary Clinton. The 2016 election marked a spike in the gender gap, with an 11-point difference between women and men votes for Donald Trump. Since 2016, the gender gap has continued to widen into a chasm as Gen Z has begun voting and more issues continue to divide our country.
In 2020, according to the Roper Center of Cornell University, the gender gap continued to widen, with 57% of women voting for Biden, as opposed to 45% of men. This marked a new record for the gender gap in American politics of 12 points. However, landmark decisions regarding women’s rights, including the overturn of Roe v. Wade, as well as increasingly polarizing politics have rocked the country, making the gender gap an even more remarkable aspect of the upcoming 2024 election.
Recent polls have predicted this widening of the gender gap, including one conducted on May 22, 2024 by Quinnipiac University. The poll showed that the margins between Biden and Trump are small, yet the gender gap has increased since 2020. When asked who they would vote for if given the option between Trump and Biden, 58% of women said they would vote for Biden, and only 37% for Trump. For men, 37% said they would vote for Biden, and 57% said they would vote for Trump. This is a 21-point gender difference between Biden voters and a 20-point gender difference between Trump voters. With the election still months away, these polls may change, however, as of now there is a massive gender gap in voter preference for Biden and Trump.
Many factors have led to this drastic shift in voting behaviors between men and women. One of the most impactful has been the introduction of Gen Z into the voting pool. Overall, Gen Z women tend to be significantly more liberal than men of the same age, with one poll showing a 15-point difference between the two groups. Factors like less religiosity among Gen Z women, a higher percentage of them identifying as LGBTQ+, and recent events like the overturning of Roe vs. Wade have all been attributed to the Gen Z gender gap.
Women have political power — they just have to use it.
Edited: July 2, 2024
