THE battle for women's votes helped shape the latest debate between US President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. 

Commentators and social media sites seized on Mr Romney's claim that he had sought and received binders full of female job candidates after being elected governor of Massachusetts and learning that his advisers were recommending mostly men for cabinet-level positions. 

But while his supporters praised the anecdote as evidence that their candidate values diversity, his critics denounced him for not addressing the disparity in pay between women and men, and for singling out women executives - and not their male counterparts - as needing flexible work hours in order to take care of their responsibilities at home. (MORE)