Masculinity and femininity in media representations of party leadership candidates: men ‘play the gender card’ too
Masculinity and femininity in media representations of party leadership candidates: men ‘play the gender card’ too
As men continue to dominate in executive office, male leadership remains the norm and has structured how we see leadership. Yet, current understandings of gender bias in political leadership too often refer to bias against women. To fully understand gender’s role in political leadership, it is vital to remember that ‘men have a gender too’. Accordingly, this article provides an inter- and intra-sex comparison of the media coverage both male and female leadership candidates running for party leadership in the UK. The results show how the leadership environment was gendered for both men and women. Gendering is found in nuanced gendered framings which worked for and against both men and women running for party leadership in the UK. Furthermore, both male and female candidates ‘played the gender card’ when negotiating the gendered norms of leadership, using their gender in their campaign imagery. The results beg key questions on the conscious use of gender in candidate strategy and the possible effect on voters.
Gender, Masculinity, Media analysis, Party leadership, UK politics
Smith, Jessica C.
96f97364-8922-4e62-8581-0d2983052e20
9 May 2021
Smith, Jessica C.
96f97364-8922-4e62-8581-0d2983052e20
Smith, Jessica C.
(2021)
Masculinity and femininity in media representations of party leadership candidates: men ‘play the gender card’ too.
British Politics.
(doi:10.1057/s41293-021-00172-w).
Abstract
As men continue to dominate in executive office, male leadership remains the norm and has structured how we see leadership. Yet, current understandings of gender bias in political leadership too often refer to bias against women. To fully understand gender’s role in political leadership, it is vital to remember that ‘men have a gender too’. Accordingly, this article provides an inter- and intra-sex comparison of the media coverage both male and female leadership candidates running for party leadership in the UK. The results show how the leadership environment was gendered for both men and women. Gendering is found in nuanced gendered framings which worked for and against both men and women running for party leadership in the UK. Furthermore, both male and female candidates ‘played the gender card’ when negotiating the gendered norms of leadership, using their gender in their campaign imagery. The results beg key questions on the conscious use of gender in candidate strategy and the possible effect on voters.
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 April 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 May 2021
Published date: 9 May 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Funding This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, grant number ES/ J500021/1.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Gender, Masculinity, Media analysis, Party leadership, UK politics
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 450679
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/450679
ISSN: 1746-918X
PURE UUID: bc3bcc5f-2cf4-4152-849a-02bf9548844e
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Date deposited: 06 Aug 2021 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:39
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