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rhetorical construction of the female politician in newspapers: How national newspapers portrayed Katherine Harris and Hillary Clinton during controversial times

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Date Issued:
2002
Summary:
This essay examines rhetoric regarding Katherine Harris and Hillary Clinton published in three national newspapers during a critical point in each woman's political career. By using the methods of content analysis and feminist rhetorical critique, it was found that national newspapers construct an image of political women as power-hungry "bitches" with poor taste in fashion who are accustomed to getting what they want and will stop at nothing to do so. Thus, it appears that patriarchal biases continue to shape the foundation of political reporters. Given that most Americans gather their knowledge of politics through the media, this thesis argues that the messages in these newspapers may have an effect on the public's opinions of the qualifications for women in the political arena.
Title: The rhetorical construction of the female politician in newspapers: How national newspapers portrayed Katherine Harris and Hillary Clinton during controversial times.
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Name(s): Conklin, Anne Marie.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Sefcovic, Enid, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2002
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 106 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: This essay examines rhetoric regarding Katherine Harris and Hillary Clinton published in three national newspapers during a critical point in each woman's political career. By using the methods of content analysis and feminist rhetorical critique, it was found that national newspapers construct an image of political women as power-hungry "bitches" with poor taste in fashion who are accustomed to getting what they want and will stop at nothing to do so. Thus, it appears that patriarchal biases continue to shape the foundation of political reporters. Given that most Americans gather their knowledge of politics through the media, this thesis argues that the messages in these newspapers may have an effect on the public's opinions of the qualifications for women in the political arena.
Identifier: 9780493913445 (isbn), 12962 (digitool), FADT12962 (IID), fau:9830 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2002.
Subject(s): Harris, Katherine--In mass media
Clinton, Hillary Rodham--In mass media
Women politicians--Press coverage
Journalism--Political aspects--United States
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12962
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.