Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has a tough road ahead to being the next US president. Picture: AP/Carolyn Kaster

Or, as Donald Trump put it: “She’s become shriiiiill,” complete with high-pitched inflection.

Political pundits later weighed in, describing Ms Clinton’s voice as “grating”, “loud” and “harassing to the ear”.

It was the beginning of primaries season and Ms Clinton was gearing up for her second bid to be America’s first female president.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is facing a double bind, as a woman she has to be both qualified and likeable to win. Picture: AP/Carolyn KasterSource:AP

On the back of the critique, she dutifully went about trying to refine her stump speech demeanour, while her camp kept mulling over the idea that these criticisms were something no male candidate had ever faced.

They kept asking themselves one question — one they simply couldn’t answer: is America — one of the world’s most progressive nations — ready to elect a female commander in chief?

Spoiler alert: no one knows the answer just yet.

Statistics, though, paint a grim picture.

Data compiled by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union highlights how the US lags well behind so many of the world’s nations when it comes to electing women.

As of February, the US was ranked 95th in the world for proportion of women in elected office.

Australia was 54th, New Zealand 29th, the UK 48th and Canada 60th. Number one was Rwanda, where 68 per cent of people elected to parliament are women. The US percentage is 19.4.

“We have a lot of work to do in terms of women’s political parity,” says Adrienne Kimmell, executive director of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation which has studied women’s races for executive office for two decades.

“Men make up 80 per cent of the US senate, 90 per cent of US governors and 100 per cent of past presidents,” she says.

Despite the odds, Ms Clinton has been a race favourite since she declared her candidacy.

This is largely because on paper — looking purely at political experience — the former Secretary of State and First Lady is the most qualified candidate for the presidency.

Despite this, she’s struggled against Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders who this week took key race state Michigan. Her camp is also now dreading a possible match up against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

The audience cheers as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign event at Hillside High School in Durham. Picture: AP/Carolyn KasterSource:AP

Of course, the question of gender and bias is often so intangible, that if Clinton loses to either opponent it will never be known what role the leadership/masculinity nexus played in defeat.

She could lose, or struggle, for many reasons — policy, political sentiment, economic conditions — but gender perceptions could equally play in all of these.

When asked the question of whether America is ready for a female president Ms Clinton revealed not even she is confident.

“I really don’t know. I think it’s gotten better, but I think there still is a very deep set of concerns that people have, which very often they’re not even aware of or they couldn’t articulate,” she told Vogue magazine.

Ms Clinton said there was nothing “overt” about sexism in most instances.

“People are very convinced they want to vote for the right person. And then ... you know, you get little hints that maybe they’re not as comfortable with a woman being in an executive position.”

On paper, looking purely at political experience, Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate for the presidency. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFPSource:AFP

The insidious nature of gender bias means it’s difficult to articulate and even harder to quantify.

A CNN poll taken last week asked the same question of whether Americans were ready for a female commander in chief.

The poll found 80 per cent of voters believed America was ready, up from 60 per cent in 2006.

In 2008, when Clinton last made her tilt, 76 per cent of people believed America was ready. The figure dropped back to 67 per cent when she didn’t win the nomination.

More women then men believe America isn’t ready — 24 per cent of women and 15 per cent of men. Those aged over 65 were also less likely to say America was ready.

Despite this, research by the BLFF points to a series of gendered interpretations that make

Ms Clinton’s road not only trailblazing, but more difficult because of subconscious attitudes voters don’t realise they carry.

Particularly, women face what Ms Kimmell calls a “double bind” — the requirement that they must be both qualified and likeable in order to get elected.

A Hillary Clinton protester outside of the Bank United Center at the University of Miami. Picture: Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via APSource:AP

“Secretary Clinton is facing a double bind as all women running for office do, that men simply don’t face,” Ms Kimmell says.

“Our research shows that women have to be both qualified and likeable to win,” she says.

“That’s not the case for men at all — they don’t have to be liked to be elected. Voters don’t need to like them at all.

“It’s not a gender blind world. Gender identity informs the lens through which male and female candidates are evaluated by voters.”

While Ms Clinton has been labelled “shrill” in this campaign, her male opponent Mr Trump has been called “bombastic” and “brash”.

These are equally gendered terms that are mostly used to describe men.

But there is one key difference — while no one wants a shrill leader, bombastic and brash does just fine on any top job suitability index.