The study of women in politics includes the analysis of both elite women and the masses in regard to their voting, political activity, and attitudes. Research shows that women hold different political attitudes. This gender gap is explained in relation to a number of attitudes, but few studies analyze whether the gender gap is still evident in an issue area that women might be torn in two hypothesized directions. The purpose of this study is to conduct an analysis of the gender gap in individual's attitudes toward the appropriateness of torture to prevent future terrorist attacks.
The study of attitudes toward public policies includes the differences between the way men and women support a particular policy or course of action. The difference between women and men since the 1980s in policy attitudes, partisanship, and voting behavior is commonly referred to as the gender gap (Conover, 1988 and Kaufmann, 2006). The present research continues the previous research on the gender gap with a focus on the issue of torture. Attitudes toward torture have only recently been analyzed due to the fact that the US government has not, before the current “War on Terrorism”, publicly condoned the use of torture as an interrogation method. Torture, as defined by the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) is “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person” (Weston, Falk, & D’Amato, 1990, p. 463). The UN CAT goes on to explain the treatment could be used to gain information or as punishment for an action by the individual. This analysis measures whether a gender gap exists in support of torture by specifically measuring individual's responses to “Do you FAVOR, OPPOSE, or NEITHER FAVOR NOR OPPOSE the US government torturing people, who are suspected of being terrorists, to try to get information?”.
The issue of torture is an issue that has several hypothesized outcomes in regard to the gender gap. Only a few previous studies look at the female response to torture, with some mixed results depending on the type of torture (Haider-Markel & Vieux, 2008) and the national political context (Eichenberg, 2010). It is presumed women are less likely to support torture due to their socialized attitudes against violence (Lott, 1981 and Valian, 1999) or due to women's feminist leanings that promote more egalitarian perspectives (Conover, 1988). Previous research on the gender gap and foreign policy focuses on issues quite different than terrorism, usually war or some sort of protracted military intervention (Eichenberg, 2003 and Fite et al., 1990Shapiro and Mahajan, 1986 and Wilcox et al., 1996); however, the current terrorist threat to the United States is quite different than previous foreign policy threats.
The issue of torture is also seen as very different from other previous foreign policy issues, so there could be unexpected outcomes. The current threat of terrorist attacks is a more serious threat to the homes and children of Americans than the potential threat women experienced when Saddam Hussein was in power; or the perceived threats from other states with which the US has conflicts. The danger of terrorism women, and especially mothers, may feel could cause women to actually support the use of torture more than men do. As several authors suggest, the socialization of parenthood for mothers is different than men; the responsibilities and expectations are not equal for men and women in regard to their roles as parents (Lott, 1981 and Ruddick, 1980). Torture, unlike other foreign policy conflict issues, presumably poses no threat to Americans in the minds of most American citizens.1
This paper analyzes the gender gap in attitudes toward torture between men and women using the 2008 American National Election Survey, with a particular focus on the interaction between women and parenthood. The analysis is based on the consistent gender gap found in previous studies, especially in regard to foreign policy issues. This paper goes beyond the previous research by showing that it may not be easy to predict the direction of the gender gap in regard to support for torture. In order to answer these questions, first there is a literature review of the gender gap in attitudes among men and women. The literature review leads to hypotheses, which are tested herein. The hypotheses are tested with data concerning women's individual attitudes toward the appropriateness of torture on suspected terrorist suspects. The data allows for a test of whether there is a gender gap in attitudes toward torture, and in what direction this gender gap occurs.
