Language And Gender: The Mass Media’s Portrayal Of Two U.S. Presidential Candidates

Abstract:
The presence of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign raised new questions about bias and sexism in the media’s portrayal of the candidates. The recent commemorative inaugural edition of Newsweek noted that “Clinton’s campaign for the presidency showed us how far we’ve come on women’s rights – and how far we haven’t come” (109). While Obama and Clinton were vying for the Democratic nomination, the March 17, 2008 Newsweek issue featured a picture of Hillary Clinton and the title “Hear Her Roar: Gender, Class, and Hillary Clinton”. Two online media sources at the time asked if “media outlets [were] biased against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton due to her gender” (www.capitolhillblue.com) and if “Hillary Clinton’s campaign [was] the victim of sexism” (www.redblueamerica.com). As Talbot (2007) notes in Media Discourse: Representation and Interaction, “[in] modern democracies the media serve a vital function as a public forum” (3). Considering the media’s effects on the nation and the public’s ideas, it is essential to analyze the language and discourse of the media during critical moments in national histories such as presidential campaigns.
Sources: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Thinking Gender Papers. Paper TG09_Avineri. [via eScholarship repository]

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