Wasta, or kin-based favoritism, is well-cited in Jordan as both necessary for resource allocation and undesirable due to its often corrupt impacts of social exclusion and obfuscation of merit. This becomes particularly important in the case of female elected members of parliament (MPs), who experience the opportunities and constraints of wasta-based expectations differently than their male counterparts. These gender-based expectations become particularly important in light of recent anti-corruption protests in Jordan, which often cite wasta as a primary form of corruption that the populace would prefer to see expelled from politics. While the Arab Spring in Jordan was a relatively small event, the region’s recent anti-corruption activities have had large ramifications on the renewal of hope in protest as a means of accomplishing political change. The author participated in a series of interviews of female MPs, public opinion influencers and journalists, and focus group interviews of male and female constituents. The main findings are that female MPs reported often feeling constrained by this system, even if wasta-based patronage is the very mechanism by which they were elected, especially through the quota system. They often denied feeling able to eschew the influence of wasta-based favoritism, which the social media influencers and journalists echoed. The view is often that the populace expects wasta as part of their elected officials’ activities. Contradictorily, many constituents reported believing that female MPs are “less corrupted by wasta” than the male counterparts, and reported desiring wasta less frequently from their female MPs than the male. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possibilities that female MPs in particular have to respond to protests in ways that ameliorate the need and constricting nature of wasta and simultaneously create a new and enhanced space for responding to constituent needs.