Playing the woman’s card

This chapter takes its name from a theme of the 2016 campaign, first stated by candidate Donald Trump about his opponent during a press conference: “I think the only card she has is the woman’s card. She’s got nothing else going.” Hillary Clinton, in turn, embraced the metaphor with this response on Twitter: “Well, if fighting for women’s health care and paid family leave and equal pay is ‘playing the woman card,’ then deal me in.” This chapter surveys a broad range of media discourse to uncover the ideological struggle that occurred in association with the seemingly simple accusation that Clinton was somehow using her gender for political advantage. In doing so, this examination illustrates how diverse voices negotiated the meaning of this utterance and used it to talk more broadly about gender roles, realities, and stereotypes. The chapter also places this gender moment within the context of women, gender, politics, and power within US society, by including how this particular accusation has been used against women in the past.