Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were both “unlikeable,” but that only mattered for one candidate.

In April 2015, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) launched Presidential Gender Watch 2016, a project to track, analyze, and illuminate gender dynamics in the 2016 presidential election. With the help of expert scholars and practitioners, Presidential Gender Watch worked for 21 months to further public understanding of how gender influences candidate strategy, voter engagement and expectations, media coverage, and electoral outcomes in campaigns for the nation’s highest executive office. The blog below was written for Presidential Gender Watch 2016, as part of our collective effort to raise questions, suggest answers, and complicate popular discussions about gender’s role in the presidential race.

Here is a small sampling of the headlines that appeared over the course of the presidential match-up between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton:

2016: The year of the unlikable candidate?

Americans’ Distaste For Both Trump And Clinton Is Record-Breaking

Poll: Clinton, Trump most unfavorable candidates ever

In an ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll release just over a week before Election Day, six in 10 likely voters had an unfavorable view of both Clinton and Trump. This made them the two most unpopular presidential candidates in an ABC/Post poll since 1984.

With both candidates facing record unfavorability numbers, this election offered a chance to evaluate what we thought we knew about the role of likeability in American politics. After all, research shows that voters overwhelmingly say it is important that they like an officeholder they support. What does that mean in a race where both candidates are disliked?

The answer lies in what Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) research has shown time and again: Men don’t need to be liked to be elected, but voters are less likely to vote for a woman candidate they do not like.

In CNN exit polls, 18% of respondents had a negative view of both Clinton and Trump. Trump won those same voters by 20 points. While it’s difficult to tell the extent to which a candidate’s gender played a role in voting decisions, these numbers point to an uneven playing field for men and women when it comes to likeability. When given a choice between two candidates they did not like, voters overwhelmingly chose the man, even when they believed the woman in the race was more qualified.

Looking at post-election polling, it is clear that likeability – despite being difficult to define – continues to be a non-negotiable quality for women running for office.