Diminishing Gender Differences in Political Preferences. Living Patterns and the Production/Reproduction Divide

This article examines the question of to what extent living patterns affect political values and priorities. This question has previously been discussed in relation to socio-economic cleavages but also gender. The latter studies have shown that there is a gender difference; women express more concerns for care-and-career policy as well as for the environment, however, the gender divide seem to be diminishing. This article explores to what extent changing living patterns related to the production/reproduction divide might account for changing political preferences among women and men in the country of Sweden, generally regarded as being at the front line of establishing gender equality both in terms of political efforts and outcomes. The analysis shows that there is a narrowing in preferences among women and men parliamentarians over time in issues concerning children, corresponding in time to an increase in men´s parental leave distribution. A subsequent analysis examine whether the level of gender equality in local level municipalities can explain political preferences among local elected representatives. It shows that a more gender equal context increases women´s interest for economic issues, but that context does not have a similar effect on men´s care-preferences. The findings are theorized through developing a materialist model where gender patterns are understood as experiences related to the production/reproduction divide. I conclude that the analysis support that living patterns affect preferences, but that it is still more women´s appreciation of traditional male patterns and preferences that is dominating.