Leading ladies: discursive constructions of women leaders in the UK media

Tischner, Irmgard; Malson, Helen; Fey, Kelly

Abstract

Women continue to be economically disadvantaged and under-represented in positions of power and leadership. A discursive disjunction between cultural and media representations of women and leadership has been implicated in these continuing inequalities. We address this issue through an analysis of the ways in which prominent women leaders were portrayed in a UK radio series, BBC Radio 4’s “Profile” broadcast between July 2011 and July 2013. Verbatim transcripts of 12 broadcasts featuring women were analysed within a critical feminist framework, to explore the ways in which these women leaders were discursively constructed. Our analysis explicates three constructions of “women leaders”: as “traditionally” feminine; as having to balance “masculine” and “feminine” attributes; and as exceptional women who may nevertheless fail. We conclude that the impact of equality legislation continues to be limited while androcentric norms prevail and that we therefore need more gynocentric ways of imagining women leaders.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 2, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jul 10, 2019
• Deposit Date: Dec 19, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 11, 2021
• Journal: Feminist Media Studies
• Print ISSN: 1468-0777
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-5902
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1-17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2019.1640266
• Keywords: Communication; Visual Arts and Performing Arts; Gender Studies
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1982419
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rfms20; Received: 2018-05-15; Revised: 2019-05-31; Accepted: 2019-07-02; Published: 2019-07-10