Mihika G's Senior Project Blog

Project Title: Framing the Candidate: Media, Gender, and Bias in Presidential Campaigns BASIS Advisor: John Goodwin Internship Location: League of Women Voters, Metropolitan Phoenix Onsite Mentor:  Kara Pelletier, Executive Board Member

Project Abstract

Gender bias in the media makes itself prevalent when studying discussions of women in traditionally male-dominated fields. Whether business or athletics, female figures are consistently subject to gender-marking and belittlement, at significantly higher rates than their male counterparts. As popular media evolves with time, so do such strategies, with blatant disrespect becoming a more covert form of microaggressions. An area particularly interesting to look at is politics, as federal politics has just recently begun to shift towards proportionate male and female positions. As other presidential candidates, Kamala Harris has been subject to much media coverage, and subsequently, criticism. However, she holds a unique position as one of the only female presidential candidates to date to secure an official nomination on a major party ballot. To this end, this project explores the rhetoric in mainstream media and news sources surrounding political candidates and the rate to which it is gendered when discussing these figures and their campaigns. Specifically, this is an examination of the ratio of gendered criticism, rooted in sex-based stereotypes, to legitimate policy-based criticism. By analyzing the frequency of gender bias, as opposed to substantive platform discussions, this project aims to uncover the extent to which the ratio of gender bias to substantive policy discussions, this project aims to uncover the extent to which popular media can perpetuate gender inequality within politics and impact public perception of female leaders.