Walking the Gendered Tightrope Theresa May and Nancy Pelosi as Legislative Leaders

• Main Author: Haussman, Melissa (auth)
• Other Authors: Kedrowski, Karen M. (auth)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: University of Michigan Press 2023
• Series: The CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics
• Subjects: Politics & government; Comparative politics; Management: leadership & motivation; Gender studies, gender groups; Nancy Pelosi, Theresa May, American Speakership, US Congress, UK Parliament, American politics, British politics, Brexit, women and politics, Democratic Party, Conservative Party, Donald Trump, impeachment, Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister, leadership, leadership challenges, gender, women in leadership, intra-party caucuses, intra-party-contestation, Affordable Care Act, intraparty, European Union, gendered politics, gender dynamics, gender stereotypes, party caucus, political goals, policy goals, high office, majoritarian presidential, Westminster parliamentary, feminine expectations, Claire Annesley, Karen Beckwith, Susan Francheschet, Maria Escobar-Lemmon, Women in Presidential Cabinets, Cabinets, Ministers, and Gender
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

Walking the Gendered Tightrope analyzes the gendered expectations for women in high offices through the examples of British Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Even at their highest positions, and while completing their greatest achievements, both May and Pelosi faced gendered critiques and intraparty challenges to their leadership. While other books have analyzed the barriers to higher office that women face, this book reveals how women in positions of power are still forced to balance feminine stereotypes with the perception of power as masculine in order to prove their legitimacy. By examining intraparty dynamics, this book offers a unique comparison between a majoritarian presidential and Westminster parliamentary system. While their parties promoted Pelosi and May to highlight their progressive values, both women faced continually gendered critiques about their abilities to lead their caucuses on difficult policy issues, such as the Affordable Care Act and two Trump impeachment votes for Nancy Pelosi, or finishing Brexit for Theresa May. Grounded in the legislative literature from the United States and Britain, as well as historical accounts and personal interviews, Walking the Gendered Tightrope contributes to the fields of gender and politics, legislative studies, American politics, and British politics.