Presidential race shows evolving gender roles in politics

Published 10:10 am Friday, January 22, 2016

DES MOINES, Iowa — Carly Fiorina has a husband who quit his career to further hers. Chris Christie boasts of his wife being the family’s top earner. Hillary Clinton is looking to get back into the White House, but this time as president.

In the 2016 presidential campaign, a modern take on gender roles is increasingly on display in both parties.

With two women running for president, a number of high-powered career spouses in the mix and an increased focus on policies to support two-income families, 2016 is shaping up as a different kind of election, said Anne Marie Slaughter, who four years ago wrote a popular essay in The Atlantic on why she left a job in the State Department to spend more time with her family.

Email newsletter signup

“I think what is changing is, this is the year of the family,” said Slaughter, now president and CEO of New America, a Washington-based nonprofit.