Women Representing Women: Maternal Health Advocacy and the Limits of Gendered Solidarity

A persistent puzzle in American politics is whether shared gendered experiences can bridge enduring racial divides in political attitudes. This study evaluates whether maternal health policy frames can activate gendered solidarity among white women in ways that shape their support for a Black woman candidate. Using a survey experiment fielded to a representative sample of 1,047 white women, I assess how exposure to maternal-health-oriented policy messages influences evaluations of Black women candidates. The results show that white women respond sharply to explicitly race-specific health policy agendas, while gender-only health policy agendas do not meaningfully increase support for a Black woman candidate. Additional analyses using established measures of racial resentment and gender consciousness help illuminate these patterns. Notably, gender consciousness is only reactive to the intersectional policy cues. Exposure to the Black maternal health frame (race and gender) reduces the otherwise positive effect of gender consciousness on support for a Black woman candidate. Taken together, racialized attitudes remain the most powerful and consistent predictor of support, while gender consciousness contributes little to no positive upside for Black women candidates.