WHY GENDER MATTERS - THE PERCEPTIONS OF WOMEN OFFICEHOLDERS

Using interviews of over 50 women state legislators from across six st ates, I explore their perceptions of the ways in which women's legisla tive life differs from men's. Specifically, I investigate their views of the ways the role of woman and the role of legislator affect career success and effectiveness, as well as the collective implications of those perceptions. The theoretical framework used to ground the empiri cal findings concerns women's status as a political minority at the el ite level as well as outsiders and newcomers to those roles. I conclud e that women in political office face the need for alternative role de velopment that neither replicates the male model nor relies upon tradi tional female private sphere roles.