(Note that the husbands of female US politicians are not subjected to an equal expectation of following their candidate/officeholder wives around.)
I’m not sure how true this is. Bill was a major force during Clinton’s campaign, and when you look at Britain Denis was pretty clearly a dutiful husband to Thatcher. I don’t have much data about the legislative side of things, though. Looking at Paul Pelosi, it looks like he might choose to stay in the shadows to leave more room for Nancy in the spotlight, but also looks like he’s active in business now (rather than being full-time support).
I know among business executives, women’s husbands are employed full-time about 75% of the time whereas men’s wives are not employed about 75% of the time, so I’ll believe those expectations exist in general, but those seem like the sort of expectations I would expect to be weaker in politics.
I’m not sure how true this is. Bill was a major force during Clinton’s campaign, and when you look at Britain Denis was pretty clearly a dutiful husband to Thatcher. I don’t have much data about the legislative side of things, though. Looking at Paul Pelosi, it looks like he might choose to stay in the shadows to leave more room for Nancy in the spotlight, but also looks like he’s active in business now (rather than being full-time support).
I know among business executives, women’s husbands are employed full-time about 75% of the time whereas men’s wives are not employed about 75% of the time, so I’ll believe those expectations exist in general, but those seem like the sort of expectations I would expect to be weaker in politics.