"Would you vote for a woman for president? 1937-2016

Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight web site has supplied this data about the history of how American voters have felt about voting for a woman for president.   When the very first Gallup Poll asked the question in 1937, 64% said No and only 33% said they would vote for a woman who was qualified in every other respect.

Since then, as this graph shows, it has been a steady uphill climb, with the Yes votes coming into a majority in the late 1950s.   In 1964 when Sen. Margaret Chase Smith entered the Republican primary race for president, it was treated as a joke by party leaders.   There have been a few more serious runs by women since then, but no one has come close to getting the nomination until now.  Here's the graph based on Gallop Poll data and supplied by FiveThirtyEight:


Some questions:
1.  What took us so long?   England, Spain, Russia and others had women as their rulers hundreds of years ago.   In the last century, Israel had Golda Meir.   England had Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher together as the two heads of government.  Thatcher was so tough she felt it justified her admonishing Ronald Reagan:  "Don't go wobbly on me now, Ronnie" about some important joint decision.  India had Indira Ghandi.   Germany has Angela Merkel.   Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru -- not afraid to let a woman have the reins of power.

2.  Conservatives have had a hate-affair with the Clintons for 25 years.   But there seems to be a special animosity toward Hillary.   Think about Trump's comments about her "yelling" and her "shrill voice" -- certainly shared by many of his supporters.  Is this code for a lingering resistance to a woman president?   Are we less open to women leaders than these other countries?   And, if so, why?

Ralph