MSNBC Guest: Women Face Different ‘Likability’ Tests Running for Executive Offices Than Men

TIME magazine’s Jay Newton-Small spoke Saturday on MSNBC on the high disapproval ratings of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, saying women running for executive office face a likability test that men do not because there is “still a lot of blatant sexism out there.”

“It’s very difficult to say whether it’s split out just dislike of Hillary Clinton because she has been a national figure for 25 year now, so there are people who dislike her for their own reasons,” Newton-Small said. “But women running for executive office face a likability test, a capability test that men do not face. So this is a barrier that only exists for executive office. It doesn’t exist for running for running for legislature or for other things where women are seen to be very good at win/win scenarios and consensus building. But the talents for executive office, win/lose scenarios and command and control decision making — women are perceived to be weaker at that, so they face a kind of toughness, capability test in order to qualify to run for that office. But that’s a very, very tough needle to thread while remaining likable.”

She later added, “The idea that women face this double standard in running for executive office has been researched a lot.”