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Communication, Strategy, and Politics
Gendered Mediation

Gendered Mediation

Identity and Image Making in Canadian Politics

Edited by Angelia Wagner and Joanna Everitt

Published by: University of British Columbia Press

Series: Communication, Strategy, and Politics

Imprint: UBC Press

284 Pages, 152.00 × 229.00 mm, 8 graphs, 9 tables

Paperback
9780774860567
Published: October 2019

£28.99

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Hardcover
9780774860550
Published: May 2019

£72.00

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Description
Contents
Authors

Despite decades of women's participation in politics and the increasing number of LGBTQ individuals who are seeking and winning political office, the gender identities of Canadian politicians continue to attract media and public attention and shape the way these individuals are perceived and evaluated.

Gendered Mediation takes an original, intersectional approach to these issues by building upon the gendered mediation thesis to argue that political communication and reporting reinforces impressions of politics as a masculine domain that privileges men and treats women as outsiders. Organized into three sections, the book investigates politicians' gendered strategies for shaping their own and others' public images, the gendered characteristics of media coverage of politicians, and voter reactions to these self-presentations and media depictions.

By examining how sexuality, race, age, and class intersect with gender to produce differing political identities and responses, the contributors make new theoretical and empirical interventions into research on gender and political communication. Their findings have profound implications for democracy not only in Canada but for democratic political systems elsewhere.

Introduction: Gendered Identities and Political Communication / Angelia Wagner and Joanna Everitt

Part 1: Politicians' Gendered Strategies to Shape Their Public Image

1 Candidates' Self-Presentation Strategies: Filling in the Gaps / Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant

2 Competing Masculinities and Political Campaigns / Jerald Sabin and Kyle Kirkup

3 Not a Taboo Topic? Talking about Family on the Campaign Trail / Angelia Wagner

Part 2: Gender-Based Media Coverage of Politicians

4 Processes of Differentiation in the 2014 Toronto Mayoral Race / Bailey Gerrits and Randy Besco

5 Breaking the Concrete Ceiling: Media Portrayals of Racialized Women in Politics / Erin Tolley

6 May the Best Man Win: Masculinity in Canadian Political Humour / Daisy Raphael

7 Examining Mediation of Female and LGBTQ-Identifying Candidates / Karalena McLean in Collaboration with Angelia Wagner and Joanna Everitt

Part 3: Reactions to Gendered (Re)presentations

8 Words and Deeds: Social Movement Actors' Assessments of Allied Politicians / Elise Maiolino

9 She's Too Tough and He's Too Soft: Measuring How Gendered News Frames Affect Voters' Evaluation of Party Leaders / Catherine Lemarier-Saulnier and Thierry Giasson

10 Gender and Candidate Communication: Is There a "Double Bind"? / Elisabeth Gidengil, Delia Dumitrescu, and Dietlind Stolle

11 Exploring Viewer Reactions to Media Coverage of Female Politicians / Joanna Everitt, Lisa Best, and Derek Gaudet

Conclusion: The Complexity of Gendered Identities in Canadian Politics / Elisabeth Gidengil

Contributors; Index

Angelia Wagner is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta, specializing in Canadian politics, gender and politics, political candidacy, and political communication. Her research explores the role of gender, race, and sexuality in shaping Canadians' perceptions of political candidacy. She is also the project manager of an international research project exploring the career pathways of women premiers in Australia and Canada.

Joanna Everitt is a professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick Saint John. Her research focuses on Canadian politics, gender differences in public opinion, and the impacts of media coverage of male and female party leaders on leadership evaluations, identity politics, and voting behaviour in Canadian elections. She is the co-editor of The Blueprint: Conservative Parties and Their Impact on Canadian Politics and the co-author of Dominance and Decline: Making Sense of Recent Canadian Elections.