Gender on the Page

Abstract

This project employs a qualitative methodology to analyze the ways in which authors of letters to the editor consistently “do gender,” per West and Zimmerman's (1987) construct. Extracting 105 news clippings from a larger study related to media coverage of tobacco, the present research relies on an inductively derived coding framework to consider the arguments upon which letter writers draw when constructing tobacco issues in letters to the editor, and the gendered ways that these arguments are written. These letters serve as a methodologically interesting source of data because they succinctly articulate an opinion that is strong enough to compel the author to write a letter to their local newspaper. As such, this analysis advances beyond a simple description of gendered differences in public attitudes, and considers the role that gender performance plays in the public discussion of opinions. This project unearthed three distinct mechanisms through which gender can be said to be performed: through general support for tobacco control efforts; through the arguments that letter writers employ; and through the rhetorical devices that authors use to construct these arguments. Excerpts from the letters are included to support my argument.

Keywords:

• gender
• news
• letters to the editor

Notes

1. Data from the Current Population Survey.

2. Funded by the National Cancer Institute.

3. For a detailed discussion of the newspaper sampling methods, see Clegg et al. (2002).

4. Circulation data from Audit Bureau of Circulation estimates.

5. January, April, and July were the sample months.