Pageant Politics: Framing Gendered Images of Women in Leadership

Abstract

Becoming the Head of State or Government remains an elusive goal for women who hold few such positions in the world today. Where women have ventured into politics be it formally by election or informally by virtue of the socio-cultural connotations associated with the position they hold, they have rarely been commended for challenging stereotypes but have, instead, faced a barrage of gender-based criticism. Across the world, images of women in leadership have been painted in social media and encapsulated in culture in a way that frames their contributions to decision-making, agenda-setting and social change. Drawing on a post-positivist feminist framework broadly based on the theses of constructivism and post-structuralism, this paper serves to frame global typologies of women in leadership through an analytical assessment of cultural knowledge bases. Framing the gendered pageantry of politics in this way is arguably an important means of understanding the role played by patriarchy in constructing the roles of women in ‘real world’ politics.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to extend her sincere gratitude to Dr Jacqueline De Matos Ala for her consistent academic guidance throughout the writing of this paper and to Prof Pieter Fourie for his guidance throughout the publication process.

Notes

1. Results searched on 23rd April 2012.