As political observers scrutinize the victory of Doug Jones over Roy Moore in the special election to fill Jeff Sessions' senate seat in Alabama, demographic trends point, once again, to the significant racial divide between women voters. While a nearly unanimous 98 percent of black women supported Jones, carrying the Democratic candidate to victory, 68 percent of white women cast their vote for his Republican opponent who faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls while he was in his 30s.

The steadfast support among white women for a Republican political candidate in the throes of sexual misconduct allegations echoes back to just over a year ago when a majority of white women helped carry Donald Trump to a presidential victory. In many ways, white female support for Republican candidates is both predictable and reliable given the 55 percent of white women who voted for George W. Bush in 2004, 53 percent who voted for John McCain in 2008, and 56 percent who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012.

The real story, though, lies in the 2016 election, when a full 53 percent of white women cast their votes for Trump even in the aftermath of numerous overtly misogynistic and vulgar verbal assaults on women. Prevailing logic seems to suggest that Hillary Clinton was such a toxic, polarizing and unpalatable candidate to this voting bloc that she was simply unable to win them over, "Access Hollywood" tape notwithstanding.

But Clinton wasn't on the ballot this Tuesday in Alabama. Even so, white women once again demonstrated a willingness to vote for a male candidate facing credible accusations of sexual assault over his Democratic opponent. In fact, Jones performed significantly worse than Hillary Clinton with white women, unable to duplicate the six point lead that Clinton held in 2016 with traditionally Republican leaning college-educated white women.

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What, then, explains the unwavering support among white women for Republican candidates even when they show such disdain for women as a whole? It is first worth noting that Alabama is one of the most conservative states in the nation with a deeply pro-life electorate. It is certainly possible that white women were so concerned by the Democratic candidate's pro-choice position that they voted for Moore based on the abortion issue alone. But is a reliable pro-life vote in the Senate the only thing they have to gain from aligning themselves with men like Trump and Moore who are not only openly misogynistic in their behavior but who promote and represent institutional norms that devalue women and their rights?

According to Turkish gender relations scholar Deniz Kandiyoti women often choose to uphold patriarchal norms in an effort to maximize their own power and options. By engaging in this "patriarchal bargain" women gain an advantage in the interpersonal relationships they have with men who are misogynists by accommodating gender roles that disadvantage women as a whole. Sociologist Lisa Wade writes that "the patriarchal bargain is a decision to accept gender rules that disadvantage women in exchange for whatever power one can wrest from the system. It is an individual strategy designed to manipulate the system to one's best advantage, but one that leaves the system intact itself."

While the patriarchal bargain was initially conceptualized to better understand women in Middle Eastern cultures who choose to uphold societal norms that may constrain them such as wearing veils in public, it is equally useful to the American context where women frequently earn praise for upholding patriarchal norms. Take, for example, the reaction of Republican public official John Carmen when he was challenged for posting a meme mocking the Women's March that asked "Will the women's protest be over in time for them to cook dinner?" When criticized for the meme's sexist tone, Carmen responded by suggesting that the women he knew were "strong and confident" enough not to be offended by the joke. By using his response as an opportunity to validate the women in his life that presumably did not march, he rewarded them for upholding patriarchal norms.

In fact, women who regularly interact with misogynistic men are frequently praised and rewarded by those men for their complicity. When they ridicule other women who take to the streets to challenge inequality, they're praised for being "real" women. When they brush off vulgar comments about other women as mere "locker room talk," they're praised for knowing how to "take a joke." When they question the veracity of sexual assault allegations made by other women, they're praised for sending a clear message that they stand by and with the men in their lives, no matter what. When they openly support candidates like Trump and Moore who seek to silence women, they earn praise for their ability to see past trivial "women's issues."