Leadership and the media: Gendered framings of Julia Gillard's ‘sexism and misogyny’ speech

Abstract

This article analyses Australian media portrayals of former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's ‘sexism and misogyny’ speech to parliament in October 2012. Our analysis reveals that coverage of the speech comprised three principal gendered framings: strategic attack, uncontrolled emotional outpouring and hypocrisy. We argue that these framings demonstrate the role the media plays as a gendered mediator, perpetuating the gender double bind that constrains female political leaders, as they negotiate the demand to demonstrate masculine leadership attributes without tarnishing the feminine qualities expected of them. In this instance, gendered media framings limited the saliency of Gillard's speech, curtailed calls for wider introspection on Australian political culture and further disassociated women from political leadership.

本文分析了澳大利亚媒体围绕前总理朱丽娅吉拉德2012年在国会的所做“歧视、憎恶女性”的发言对她所做的描画。对那次讲话的报道主要由三个性别镜框构成。一是战略进攻，二是情绪宣泄，三是伪善。我们认为，这些镜框显示了媒体作为性别化的中介，加固了对女性政治领袖性别上的双重束缚：这些领袖既要展示阳刚的领导作风又要不失社会所期待的一些女性气质。在这个案例中，性别化的媒体报道，将吉拉德讲话狭隘化，妨碍了对澳大利亚政治文化的反思，割裂了女性与政治领导的关系。

Keywords:

• female political leaders
• feminism
• politics and gender
• politics and the media
• political leadership

Notes

1 Framing Gillard as both rationally strategic and emotionally hysterical appears inconsistent when read without a gendered sensitive understanding of narrative construction. The two framings speak to the complexity of gendered narratives which often on the surface appear contradictory, making them difficult to unpack and challenge. Both points serve to disassociate Gillard from competency in her leadership role, in different but mutually reinforcing ways.