Metaphors and Misrepresentation

Abstract

The concept of gendered mediation represents a new phase in the study of women, politics, and the media. It focuses on the stereotypically masculine narrative used in political reporting. Metaphors of warfare and confrontation dominate media coverage of politics, reinforcing traditional conceptions of politics as a male preserve. In this article, we examine the implications of this narrative for the coverage of female leaders. We argue that women who adopt “masculine” styles in order to compete are portrayed by the media as being more aggressive than their male counterparts because they are contravening deeply rooted conventions concerning appropriate female behavior. By comparing metaphoric reconstructions of the 1993 Canadian leaders' debates with the actual behavior of the participants, we show that television news coverage of the two female leaders focused disproportionately on the behavior that was counter to gender-based stereotypes. Ironically, even when the women adopted a less confrontational approach, they were still portrayed as being more aggressive than the male participants. The result of this gendered mediation, we conclude, was to misrepresent the behavior of both of the female leaders.