This past year has been a tumultuous one for American
politics. Intense primary races kept the public on edge as the country’s two
major prepared to nominate candidates for the highest office in the land. While
this contest was unfolding domestically, the world saw another volatile series
of events unfold across the Atlantic when, on July 23rd of 2016, the
United Kingdom (U.K.) voted to leave the European Union. The European Union (E.U.)
is an “economic
and political union between 28 European countries” and portions of the
United Kingdom felt that the E.U. was too powerful and was taking too much of
Britain’s money. These concerns led to the referendum where a majority of the U.K.
voted to leave the E.U., which was dubbed the “Brexit” (see graphic below for
more).
Image source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
David Cameron was the Prime Minister of the U.K. when the “Brexit”
vote occurred. In Great Britain, the Prime Minister acts as the principal head
of government and is “ultimately
responsible for responsible for the policy and decisions of the government.”
As an active proponent of staying
in the E.U., Cameron resigned from his position, stating “negotiation with
the European Union will need to begin under a new Prime Minister” (view the
full text of his speech here.)
Following his resignation, the conservative party of the U.K. held elections to
find his replacement. The system by which a prime minister is elected is quite
different than how a president is elected in the United States, but this
article is more concerned with the outcome of said election. Following the
final vote, Theresa May, former Home Secretary and Member of Parliament, was elected
as the new Prime Minister of
the United Kingdom.
David Cameron (left), Theresa May (right); Images courtesy of
Wikipedia.org
The election of Theresa May presents an extremely unique
opportunity to compare media coverage of men and women in politics. David
Cameron and Theresa May belong to the same political party and have both held
the office of Prime Minister. Both Cameron and May
voted to remain in the E.U. While having some differing opinions, these two
individuals share many characteristics except
their gender. By comparing coverage of Cameron and May, we can attempt to
discern if observed differences in coverage, focus, and commentary are rooted
in gendered bias.
Prime Ministerial
Coverage
In a journal piece by Hayes,
Lawless, and Baitinger, they discussed the effects that presentation can
have on the public opinion of a politician. It is important to note that the
public will make its own distinctions on the viability of a candidate or
office-holder from said individual’s appearance. Most political scientists
agree that data proves that the superficial can affect voter’s choices. While politicians
are ultimately in control of their appearance, the media has great control in
manipulating appearance. Whether they show certain clips of speech out of
context, provide extra commentary on performance rather than actual content of
a speech, or shift focus to superficial aspects of a politician, public opinion
can be swayed by the media. “Coverage that draws attention to candidates’
appearance, then, may activate [gender] stereotypes, leading voters to assess
candidates through a gendered lens.” The aforementioned authors discussed that
men are often viewed as being more capable of handling issues of the military,
crime, and the economy, while women are often viewed as being more capable of
handling social welfare issues. Men are also viewed as more assertive,
self-confident, and competent while women are viewed as more empathetic and compassionate.
With the “Brexit” being an event of economic focus and independence emphasis,
much of Britain’s population wants their leader to be a strong and competent
and be able to negotiate the favorable economic agreements. Given the stereotypical
favoring of men to navigate such events, the media’s portrayal of May could
fundamentally undermine attempts of May to unify the country as it exits the E.U.
Media Coverage
There are two primary subjects of coverage that I sought to
compare and contrast: headlines used to describe current events and commentary
on appearance. In reviewing coverage, I mostly focused on reporting from
British media outlets.
Headlines
To compare coverage, I wanted to do qualitative research of
the actions words and adjectives media outlets used to describe each Prime
Minister. In this digital age, the increasing amounts of information have led
many to simply read headlines and not study the stories more in-depth. The
American Press Institute reported
in 2014 that 6 in 10 Americans did not delve deeper than news headlines. Given
this statistic, I wanted to look specifically at news headlines about each
Prime Minister and compare the wordage and verbiage used. Initially, I thought
that Cameron would be described with more assertive words while Theresa May
would be described with more empathetic words. In my initial searching, my
thoughts were validated. Cameron was described using words like “defends” and “saved”
and May was described with words like “offers”
and “reaches
out”. As I continued to review headlines, I came to two conclusions: first,
British media is not too fond of David Cameron. Second, the adjectives and
verbs used to describe the actions of both Prime Ministers were more or less
reflective of their actual actions rather than their genders. The word “should”
was present in many headlines regarding both individuals suggesting that pleas
made to both Prime Ministers were made in the same way. Both received their
fair share of critiques and acclaims.
Appearance
To compare coverage, I wanted to specifically look at
commentary on how the Prime Ministers looked. I found interesting commentary on
David Cameron. Most notably, Cameron suffered a wardrobe malfunction in 2014
which can be read about here.
The reason this is one of the most notable pieces of commentary is that this
malfunction is one of the few pieces I could find with commentary on Cameron’s
appearance. In fact, Cameron mentioned his disinterest in clothing and the
desire to stand out in an interview with the Telegraph.
On the other hand, there are many articles both critiquing and praising Theresa
May’s wardrobe. Some
claim that her wardrobe is too unprofessional and others
laud her “snazzy style”. Though lacking commentary on wardrobe for Cameron, the
media did have a field day with Cameron’s comments
about needing to lose weight earlier this year, even taking pictures
of him and his wife on vacation and almost shaming his weight and appearance.
Closing
Both Prime Ministers share similar ideologies and have
experience in civil service and are capable individuals. I think that the
headlines of media outlets showcase this. These leaders are not facing a significant
difference in coverage when it comes to what they say and what they do.
However, when it comes to how they look, differences in coverage are present. This
could be due to the history of male-dominated politics and the belief that a
successful looking politician is a masculine looking politician. Still,
coverage difference is nowhere near the difference seen in the 2016 U.S. election.
I conclude that in the U.K.,
differences of coverage based on gender are minimal compared to the United
States. This finding merits further study of coverage differences in the U.S.
and the U.K., including observing difference in coverage between male and female
competitors as well as members of the same party.
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