Soccer moms

Middle- to upper-middle-class suburban mothers who drive their children to soccer practices in minivans or SUVs

Soccer moms were viewed as a vital swing vote in the 1996 presidential election, helping incumbent president Bill Clinton to defeat Republican candidate Bob Dole.

The term “soccer mom” was created by the media to portray the population of white, suburban, married females who favored Bill Clinton in the 1996 presidential election. The mythical soccer mom is a middle- to upper-middle-class mother of two to three children, is college-educated, and works at least part-time outside the home. The media focused on soccer since it was the fastest growing sport in the country for both boys and girls. Families throughout the United States are involved in the sport, particularly in the suburbs. Parents of soccer players spend many evenings and weekends driving to soccer games, preparing snacks, supplying uniforms, and cheering from the sidelines. The stereotype assumes that mothers spend more time involved with their children’s activities than fathers and that this adds to their already busy, hectic lives.

Political Gender Gap

In the 1992 presidential election, polls showed that married, white, suburban women voted 5-3 for Republican candidate George H. W. Bush over Democratic candidate Bill Clinton. This trend reversed in 1996, with these same women voting 5-4 for Clinton over Republican candidate Bob Dole. In reporting on this trend, the media labeled these suburban women as “soccer moms,” giving their concerns significant coverage that effectively swayed the focus of the presidential debate.

The politics of soccer moms highlight their dedication to their children, to their aging parents, and to social concerns for the poor and elderly. Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party addressed these issues when they spoke of education, family leave, teen smoking, V-chips (which allow parental control over television content viewed by children), pensions, and health care. Bob Dole and the Republican Party, on the other hand, tended to focus on the economy and government ineffectiveness.

The role of government is perceived differently between men and women. Women tend to believe that government has a moral responsibility to recognize and address social concerns, while men tend to view the government as defective and burdensome. The 1995 Republican-sponsored cuts in social spending were viewed with apprehension and disapproval by many women who saw cuts in programs for the poor and elderly as radical and dangerous. Many men, on the other hand, viewed Dole’s promise to cut taxes by 15 percent as necessary.

Female voters generally preferred Clinton over Dole. They believed that Clinton was more in tune with the realities of the 1990’s and with the concerns of youth. Dole was seen as too old, mean-spirited, and out of touch with the modern world. He was viewed as lecturing and impersonal. He spoke out against many issues valued by the female swing vote, such as abortion rights and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Toward the end of his campaign, Dole attempted to appeal to the soccer mom vote. The media had created the impression that soccer moms, if won over, would sway the 1996 presidential election, but Dole’s effort to capture this demographic came too late.

Soccer Moms and Women’s Issues

With this focus on the soccer mom, many other women’s issues were ignored or downplayed. In actuality, suburban soccer moms represented less than 10 percent of the American public and the voting electorate. Blue-collar working mothers were also a swing vote in the 1996 presidential election but did not receive the same media attention. Issues of minority women, poor women, and feminists were largely ignored. Issues such as welfare reform, abortion, child care, or sexual harassment were not discussed in the presidential debates. The only women’s issues discussed were those that reflected a woman’s role as a mother.

Impact

By focusing on a small section of female voters identified by the term “soccer moms,” the media effectively guided the focus of the presidential debate to issues relevant to middle-class, suburban families.

Bibliography

Carroll, Susan J. “The Disempowerment of the Gender Gap: Soccer Moms and the 1996 Elections.” PS: Political Science and Politics 32, no. 1 (March, 1999): 7-11. The author argues that the framing of some women as “soccer moms” by the media actually resulted in the disempowerment of most women in the 1996 presidential election.

Carroll, Susan J., and Richard L. Fox, eds. Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Offers insight into how gender affects contemporary American elections, including the labeling of some women as “soccer moms” in the 1996 presidential election.

McCormick, John, and John Leland. “The Fight over the Soccer Moms.” Newsweek, August 26, 1996, 28. Looks at the fight over middle-class female voters in the 1996 presidential race.

MacFarquhar, Neil. “What’s a Soccer Mom Anyway?” The New York Times, October 20, 1996, p. D1. Explores the use of the term “soccer moms” and why many people find it so misleading.

Poole, Barbara L., and Melinda A. Mueller. “Alienation and the ’Soccer Mom’: A Media Creation or a New Trend in Voting Behavior?” In Engaging the Public: How Government and the Media Can Reinvigorate American Democracy , edited by Thomas J. Johnson, Carol E. Hays, and Scott P. Hays. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. Research on the gender gap in the 1996 presidential election and the oversimplification of women’s attitudes about the role of government by the use of labels such as “soccer moms.”