Women have been elected to the highest offices in England, Germany, and India. Now, for the first time in American history, a woman has been deemed a true contender in the race for President.

And yet, the press writes about her pantsuits and cleavage.

While Hillary Clinton tries to duck, disregard, or dispute the condescending questions that address whether she — or any woman — is fit for office, her male counterparts are held to different, not equal standards.

Media and communications expert Erika Falk takes a look at the issues and non-issues that have prevented women from being taken seriously in the political arena. She’ll take calls from listeners and discuss:

• How the media demeaned Shirley Chisholm, Patricia Schroder, and other women candidates who were not deemed viable because they
were women.

• From yellow journalism to online town hall meetings: how the media
has affected presidential politics through the years.

• The fine balance Clinton has to maintain in order to keep the emphasis on the issues of the day instead of her gender.

“Erika Falk offers a powerful evidence-based look at how the media has overlooked and undervalued women presidential candidates since they first ran over 130 years ago.”—Donna Brazile, ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopolous
CREDENTIALS: Erika Falk is the associate program chair for the master’s degree program in communications at Johns Hopkins University and the former research director of the Washington office of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Her new book is called WOMEN FOR PRESIDENT: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns.

AVAILABILITY: Washington DC metro area. Nationwide via telephone, will travel upon arrangement
CONTACT: Michael Roux, University of Illinois Press, (217) 244-4689; mroux@uillinois.edu