On Feb. 4, the eve of the U.S. Super Tuesday primaries, Sen. Hillary Clinton had an emotional moment. That’s not surprising—the business of running for President of the United States isn’t exactly a stress-free proposition. What is more surprising is the amount of attention the moment garnered: aside from presidential candidate Howard Dean’s howl four years ago, candidates’ emotions seldom make headlines.
But the media outcry generated when the usually controlled senator nearly had what she called “a teary moment”—when she met an old friend from Yale Law School—highlights a common double-bind professional women face: show emotion and be dismissed as incapable of leadership; don’t show emotion and be rejected as unfeminine.
“Hillary Clinton embodies women’s struggle to display professionalism without violating traditional gender role expectations,” says Nikki Graves, an assistant professor in the practice of management communication at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
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