Feminists and the Gender Gap

In recent years, analysts have devoted considerable attention to the gender gaps in party identification and voting. Despite its importance, substantially less attention has been concentrated on the gender gap in public opinion. In an effort to remedy that situation, this paper focuses on gender differences and differences among women in political values and basic moral orientations. The findings suggest that feminists are distinctive in their fundamental values; and that feminists account for a large part of the gender gap in specific issue preferences. The implications of such findings for feminist theory are discussed.