Gendered Mediation of Women Involved in American and Canadian Political Scandals

• In Event: The Media's Role in Marginalization

Abstract

While studies on gendered mediation show that women usually receive more negative coverage than men when they are responsible for political scandals (Barnes et al., 2020; Cucchi & Cavazza, 2021; Harp, 2019; Mandell, 2017), our study reveals that this is also the case for women who unwittingly find themselves involved because of their personal or professional ties to a politician caught up in a scandal. Taking a comparative approach, we analyzed the content of the coverage of women indirectly involved in four major U.S. political scandals (Watergate, Iran-Contra, Clinton-Lewinsky affair, Ukraine quid pro quo) and four major Canadian political scandals (Margaret Trudeau at Studio 54, Sponsorship scandal, Maher Arar case, Bernier-Couillard incident) through articles of public affairs and cultural magazines. Three assumptions guided our analysis. First, women are covered in a negative way even if they are not responsible for the scandal. Second, they are covered in a stereotypical way: their physical appearance and the qualities perceived as “feminine” constitute criteria of judgment of their character or their role in the scandal. Finally, the content of coverage of the women is similar between the United States and Canada, despite the two countries’ different political and media systems.

Authors

• Karine Prémont, University of Sherbrooke

• Carol-Ann Rouillard