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Chapter 12. The ball is in the women’s court

The portrayal of Finnish women as political leaders in newspapers
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Abstract

Finnish women have held all the highest positions in politics, and yet their media presence has repeatedly been portrayed as weaker than men’s. This article examines how newspapers ascribe gender to political leaders and what questions this opens in political communication research. In addition to a quantitative analysis, data from the most widely read Finnish newspapers, daily broadsheets and six-day-a-week tabloids, are interpreted and complemented with a qualitative content analysis of the Social Democratic Party of Finland’s first female party leader. This article demonstrates that female and male politicians are not given equal media representation. Moreover, the media evaluates the personalities and actions of political leaders from distinctively gendered perspectives.

Abstract

Finnish women have held all the highest positions in politics, and yet their media presence has repeatedly been portrayed as weaker than men’s. This article examines how newspapers ascribe gender to political leaders and what questions this opens in political communication research. In addition to a quantitative analysis, data from the most widely read Finnish newspapers, daily broadsheets and six-day-a-week tabloids, are interpreted and complemented with a qualitative content analysis of the Social Democratic Party of Finland’s first female party leader. This article demonstrates that female and male politicians are not given equal media representation. Moreover, the media evaluates the personalities and actions of political leaders from distinctively gendered perspectives.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Discourse, politics and women 1
  4. Part I. Discursive features of leadership
  5. Chapter 1. “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” 21
  6. Chapter 2. Breaking the glass & keeping the ceiling 43
  7. Chapter 3. Under fire 67
  8. Part II. Discourse, media and power
  9. Chapter 4. Twitter as political discourse 93
  10. Chapter 5. Gender and political discourse in Tunisia 121
  11. Chapter 6. Julia Gillard 149
  12. Chapter 7. Women in politics and the media 169
  13. Part III. Leadership, identity and the public
  14. Chapter 8. “Thank you for heckling me” 195
  15. Chapter 9. Governors debating 217
  16. Chapter 10. Discourses of female leaders in postcolonial Hong Kong 251
  17. Part IV. Styling the leader
  18. Chapter 11. Governing in the gendered structure of power 275
  19. Chapter 12. The ball is in the women’s court 293
  20. Chapter 13. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 315
  21. Conclusion 345
  22. About the authors 353
  23. Index 359
Discourse, Politics and Women as Global Leaders
This chapter is in the book Discourse, Politics and Women as Global Leaders
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.63.13mak

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Discourse, politics and women 1
  4. Part I. Discursive features of leadership
  5. Chapter 1. “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” 21
  6. Chapter 2. Breaking the glass & keeping the ceiling 43
  7. Chapter 3. Under fire 67
  8. Part II. Discourse, media and power
  9. Chapter 4. Twitter as political discourse 93
  10. Chapter 5. Gender and political discourse in Tunisia 121
  11. Chapter 6. Julia Gillard 149
  12. Chapter 7. Women in politics and the media 169
  13. Part III. Leadership, identity and the public
  14. Chapter 8. “Thank you for heckling me” 195
  15. Chapter 9. Governors debating 217
  16. Chapter 10. Discourses of female leaders in postcolonial Hong Kong 251
  17. Part IV. Styling the leader
  18. Chapter 11. Governing in the gendered structure of power 275
  19. Chapter 12. The ball is in the women’s court 293
  20. Chapter 13. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 315
  21. Conclusion 345
  22. About the authors 353
  23. Index 359
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