Abstract
The family, and motherhood in particular, have long been themes in American politics, but have been more prominent in the last three decades [Laurel Elder and Steven Greene. 2012. The Politics of Parenthood: Causes and Consequences of the Politicization and Polarization of the American Family. New York: SUNY Press; Jill S. Greelee 2014. The Political Consequences of Motherhood. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press]. Both parties present a traditional image of a two-parent, middle-class family, a structure that invokes notions of women in a traditional domestic role. The re-emergence of motherhood in American politics, which we refer to as Politicized Motherhood, presents challenges for women who pursue leadership positions. Like previous iterations of maternal politics that justified women's political actions during the Progressive Era, Politicized Motherhood has the potential to motivate women to run for office and to frame female candidacies in beneficial ways. Yet, it also has the potential to activate and reinforce gender stereotypes that undermine women's capacity to see themselves as leaders and threaten female candidates' potential to be successful. This paper examines the implications of Politicized Motherhood for women who compete for political leadership roles in the USA. We argue that Politicized Motherhood is likely to impact each stage of a woman's career in political leadership, from deciding to run to structuring a campaign and winning voter support. Ultimately, Politicized Motherhood is likely to exacerbate some of women's political challenges, but may also have the potential to transcend these challenges.
