Gendered Narratives in Saturday Night Live and the Broader Media Ecosystem

GENDER NARRATIVES OF ​SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: EFFECTS ON POLITICAL CANDIDATE SUCCESS Robert Gracin (collaborators redacted) James Madison College Michigan State University

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Abstract This study analyzes the media content, dialogue, and positioning of gender narratives and attached biases of the show ​Saturday Night Live (SNL). SNL​ is notorious for its social commentary and political satire during the Trump Administration, following its 40 year history of strong seasons during election years (Howard 2016). The effects of this satire in relation to not only campaigns, but for female candidates in particular is the main question at hand. This study employs both qualitative methods to analyze the dialogue about female political figures on SNL, ​and quantitative analysis of viewer perception of the show. Quantitative analysis comes in the form of a survey and data from the responses of 36 students at Michigan State University.

Main findings include political party loyalty and negative portrayals of both genders in politics.

Although there may be stigmas surrounding candidates based on surface level issues, there may not be a significant impact purely based on ​SNL​ in relation to how an individual votes based on gender.

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Keywords​: gender, gender narratives, media, politics, female politician, Saturday Night

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Studies are done regarding candidacy success and the role of the media in their public appeal and portrayal, but this in particular will demonstrate the importance of gender bias from political satire. This project analyzes the media content, dialogue, and positioning of gender narratives and attached biases on the show ​Saturday Night Live (SNL). SNL​ has been notorious for its social commentary political satire during the Trump Administration, following its 40 year history of strong seasons during election years (Howard 2016). The show’s skits often tackle current political debates and public issues in a comedic style, setting itself as a unique media outlet. One aspect that is quite interesting is the dialogue surrounding candidates based on their gender. Specifically, the positive or negative connotations that are portrayed through the actor’s impersonations of the candidates.

Literature Review Gender roles are enforced through media discourse, as found by ​Cakir-Demirhan and Dehir in a Twitter content analysis study. “Our case on patriarchal discourse on Twitter helps to explain social media's contribution to strengthen the dominant roles and to create discursive gap due to the absence of alternative publics on Twitter” (Cakir-Demirhan and Dehir 2015). This content analysis of tweets related to ‘patriarchal discourse’ summarizes how public discourse determines dominant gender roles in a society. With more messages that the media sends regarding female politicians as incompetent, patriarchal discourse becomes more present within a society. Public discourse obviously determines elections, campaigns, and composes politics overall. Other studies also show that patriarchal discourse can have harmful effects for women’s reelections, and discourage women from running for office in the first place.

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Following the election of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, gender bias permeated every aspect of campaigning--from the issues candidates discussed along the campaign trail, to the stereotypical attitudes people brought with them into the voting polls.

Despite the notion that the female candidates “face bias, sexism, and discrimination at seemingly every turn,” researchers Danny Hayes and Jennifer Lawless argue the opposite in their book Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era​ (Hayes 2016, p.

22). The authors challenge the conventional wisdom that female candidates play into gender stereotypes by either “emphasizing traditionally masculine issues to prove their credibility, or focus on women’s issues” to distinguish themselves from their male counterparts (Hayes 2016, p. 30). Hayes and Lawless find that partisanship (not biological sex) shapes candidates’ issue agendas, stating that local newspapers are no more likely to comment on a woman candidate’s appearance, family roles, or traits than they are to comment on a man’s gendered attributes (Hayes 2016, p. 32). However, given national obsession with Hillary Clinton’s blue pantsuit and her “condescending” smile, the authors suggest refraining from drawing large generalizations from national political contests. The tendency of national media outlets to portray “female candidates as facing sexism” and to sensationalize sexist incidents distorts our perceptions of gender bias in the electoral environment, Hayes suggests. (Hayes 2016, p. 130).

Hayes and Lawless state that despite male and female candidates running similar campaigns and receiving similar coverage in the news, the possibility that voters hold stereotypical views of them still exists. The authors conduct a study using the Cooperative Congressional Election Study to survey 3000 citizens, where they asked them what came to mind when thinking about the Democratic and Republican House candidates in their districts, most

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people failed to mention candidate sex (Hayes, 134). Hayes and Lawless’s research suggests that partisanship (not sex) employs an huge influence over people’s political views, but also raises important questions about descriptive representation or the “idea that public officials effectively represent the interests of groups whose backgrounds and experience they share” (Hayes, 135). If female candidates do not experience discrimination on campaign trail, then why do so many stakeholders including the press, politicians, political scientists, and the public believe that they do? Survey data indicates that this is highly correlated to people’s assessment of the political arena. Hayes states that women who run for office face “a remarkably level playing field.”

However, other systemic factors beyond “the perception of gender bias” may keep women from running and succeeding (Hayes, 136).

Rachel Garrett and Dominik Stecula, the authors of “​Subtle Sexism In Political Coverage Can Have A Real Impact On Candidates​” (2018), address the issue of overt sexism and gender stereotyping that still exists both in life and in the media. The treatment of Congressional candidate Brianna Wu, who faced overt sexism when The Boston Globe used an old picture portraying her as “unprofessional,” right next to her two male opponents in “suits” (Garrett, 2018). This suggested that in 2018, subtle, unintentional forms of sexist coverage in the media still exists. Media coverage of female candidates often use sexist language and tend to focus on stereotypical roles, whereas, male candidates are never asked to “smile or to answer questions about work-life balance” (Garrett, 2018). The authors suggest that female politicians have been stereotyped as “ice queens” or “grandmas” and have been historically categorized into; “seductress, mother, pet, or battle-ax” by the media (Garrett, 2018).

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Garrett and Stecula suggest that female congressional candidates are no longer covered differently by journalists however, subtler forms of sexist language can impact the popularity of the candidates. They conduct a study to research if even “subtle word choices” could affect people’s perspective about female candidates. The study uses the Bem Sex-Role Inventory that was created by psychologist Sandra Bem in the 1970s, which categorizes “descriptive language into masculine, feminine, and neutral groupings based on how individual words are perceived by the public” (Garrett, 2018). Words like “ambitions” and “assertive” have been associated with masculinity, while words like “compassionate” and “loyal” have been associated with femininity (Garrett, 2018). The conscious or not decision to choose gender-coded words to describe candidates by journalists might affect the public perception of the candidates.

The method of the study included asking 269 university students to read a newspaper article about a mayoral race from ​The Globe and Mail.​ Where different versions of the article had different gender of the candidate and the words that were used to describe them (all other things remained the same) (Garrett, 2018). The readers were asked to rate how qualified they thought the candidate was on a 10-point. The results showed that a woman politician described with masculine-coded adjectives was seen as almost 10 percent more qualified and 7 percent more competent than a woman described with feminine adjectives (Garrett, 2018). Female respondents were also much more likely to rate the female candidates described with feminine adjectives lower, the female candidates described with masculine adjectives higher (Garrett, 2018). Nearly 80 percent of the respondents assumed the candidate they read about was male suggesting that a political profession might still be considered to be a “man’s job” (Garrett, 2018). The findings of this study reflect the stereotypes that are deeply rooted in our institutions.

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The effects of subtle sexism in the descriptive language used in normal news coverage can potentially change how the electorate views certain politicians.

There is no lack of abrasiveness in the connotation it holds when determining content to be media sexism. Whereas our aim in analyzing ​Saturday Night Live ​highlights candidates from mostly just the United States, the article by Hararldsson and Wangnerud aims to assess the issue on a global scale. In the article published in May of 2018, they write “​but also because of the bystander effect of media sexism” regarding the key components for why women have issues in gaining a fair share of representation in any candidacy (Haraldsson and Wangnerud). The main argument presented is that when women face enough barriers, they will then choose to stop trying and this is the main issue that the authors have. As so many watch and partake in media of all different forms, our opinions shift inadvertently without us even knowing. This is why it is up to the media, in all of its forms, to take responsibility for the message that they send out to millions on a daily basis.

Hypothesis & Research Questions This project began with the hypothesis that female political figures would be represented with negative dialogue on ​SNL,​ reinforcing patriarchal discourse through political satire. This research study aims to answer the question: ​What are the key trends in media content coverage of political candidates as it relates to gender? What is the portrayal of female politicians on the show ​Saturday Night Live?

With large populations watching television on a daily basis, television becomes a main source of political knowledge. Often the impact is reflected in the way in which voters base their

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decisions, and we find correlations between this impact and women in politics. This study aims to identify key dialogue trends about gender within the political media sphere.

Methods This research study combined two methods to analyze ​Saturday Night Live​’s content and effects. Trends in the show ​content’​ s dialogue and positioning related to gender are assessed and explored, offering insights on ​SNL’​ s depiction of gender performance and political legitimacy.

To analyze this dialogues, the five episodes of ​SNL​ that aired over the months of October and November 2018 were screened and analyzed for their discussion and coverage of political candidates leading up to the Congressional midterm election on November 6, 2018. The five episodes screened for major discourse themes were: ● ● ● ● ●

October 6th, 2018 (host: Awkwafina) October 13th, 2018 (host: Seth Meyers) November 3rd, 2018 (host: Jonah Hill) November 10th, 2018 (host: Liev Schreiber) November 17th, 2018 (host: Steve Carell)

A survey of 36 Michigan State University students was conducted to measure their perception of gender portrayals on the show. Of the 36 participants, 42% watched SNL “2+ times per month” and 89% said they “enjoy skits that include political satire and commentary.”

Results The first October 6 episode screened revealed many intriguing questions about the behavior of politicians within political media. A major political media headline throughout the

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month of September and October was the Senate confirmation hearing of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. After a nationally televised Senate testimony about sexual assault allegations, SNL made this media event central to its October 6 episode, which was also the day Kavanaugh was confirmed into the Supreme Court. Every episode begins with a “Cold Open,’ and episode 1 created ‘locker rooms’ of both the GOP and the Democratic Party. The skit opens with CNN reporting on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, asking prominent GOP Senators for their reactions on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. This skit patronizes Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins after her ‘yes’ vote to confirm Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. SNL comedian Aidy Bryant plays Collins with a lost expression on her face, with only one line to the camera: “do I talk again?... I wanted to tell my female supporters PSYCH!” This is followed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham exclaiming “she’s our girl! Our ONE girl!”

This theme is revisited later in the same episode on “The Weekend Update,” in which host Michael Che asks the question “to the 5 women who voted yes, are you guys hostages to the GOP?” This discourse indicates a larger question about female politicians voting with their party, rather than their gender identity as in relates to the #MeToo movement. On this note, a third skit questions double standards of the behavior of male and female political figures, in the Context of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. The skit is a fake New York Film Festival Women’s Panel on #MeToo, with comedians impersonating various film industry professionals talking about sexism in media. Cecily Strong says “there is a double standard over how Brett Kavanaugh acted in the Senate. If a woman acted like that, she would be shunned.”

Another episode that is critically analyzed in its content aired on November 3rd of 2018.

The show opens with a ‘Cold Open Skit’ of a fake news reel with an actor representing Laura

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Ingraham reporting. Regardless of the fact that there may be liberal biases intact, both the impersonation Laura Ingraham and Judge Jeanine Pirro were portrayed as being lackluster individuals that held little to no political knowledge regarding issues such as the Migrant Caravan issue that was occurring concurrently. This for women overall does not look good, regardless of political affiliation. When individuals watch a show looking to be entertained rather than substantially informed, such as watching ​SNL, ​critical aspects of thinking and sorting of our own ideas is not the main idea or realm of focus. We simply take in what we see, such as in this case two women being represented as unintelligible talking heads and take it with a grain of salt or use the excuse of political satire. This is an inherent issue in and of itself because subconsciously these same thoughts will be connected to the individual in you mind henceforth regardless of the good or the bad. When showing up to vote, it is the substantive information that should be the basis of a vote, not necessarily a skit that comes to mind.

The episode on November​ ​17​th​ reflected the results of the election and addressed prevalent topics that affected the results. The cold open skit opens with Kate McKinnon playing Fox News Host Laura Ingraham with aggressive tones, while also citing inaccurate data and facts. The skit demeans the results of the elections, thus implying the sole reason for the democratic win to be voter fraud. She addresses the “rampant voter fraud” issue that took over the nation during the midterm elections in 2018, suggesting that the fraud allowed democrats to “literally steal the election”. Mckinnon also points out that some people have claimed that women revolted against the Republican party saying ,“doesn’t it feel more true that all Hispanics voted twice?” referring to the bizarre accusations the Republican candidates and officials made against the Democrats. Ingraham (played by Mckinnon) then questions Democratic

GENDER NARRATIVES OF ​SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 10 representative Marcia Fudge, who is played by in-house comedian Leslie Jones about her challenge to Nancy Pelosi. Representative Fudge (Jones) expresses that Nancy Pelosi is constantly used against Democrats by Republicans due to past actions that have tainted her name. Rep. Jones says, “… but the Republicans can never find a way to make fun of me…..a middle-aged black woman named Fudge”. Later on, Fudge goes on to “roast” Nancy Pelosi stating things like “Pelosi’s younger sister a redwood tree” , “she calls the old testament, the testament.”

The survey conducted revealed interesting opinions about the perception of political candidates through their representation on SNL. When asked to complete the question “On the show SNL, female political candidates are portrayed _____,” 28 participants answered “negatively,” and 8 responded with “positively.” Participants were then asked the same question about men: “On the show SNL, male political candidates are portrayed _____.” Surprisingly, 34 participants answered “negatively,” and only 2 answered “positively.” Thus, males were perceived more negatively than females by this sample size.

Discussion Limitations regarding correct implementation. ​The GOP women hostages skit opens a discussion about political party loyalty that female politicians feel a pressure to deliver on.

More specifically, female representatives have an obligation to vote in the interest of their constituencies, as observed in a 2014 research study on Pakistan’s political media coverage: “Though the media did give space to women parliamentarians elected on the reserved seats on

GENDER NARRATIVES OF ​SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 11 nominations of their parties, it could not bridge the gap between society and these women parliamentarians as they did not have their constituencies and were not answerable to the masses/society. That is why society and people hardly took them as influential in politics and decision-making and the media too gave them coverage for the sake of coverage. The women who were directly elected to the parliament have a different case. So, the study finds that the media could have adopted such strategies that would have engaged talented women politicians in healthy social-building dialogue, which it could not” (Munir, Shehzad, and Sahi 2014).

Limitation relating to satire. ​The comments Marcia Judge (Jones) makes regarding Nancy Pelosi’s “tainted” image shows that republican party will make fun of female opposition candidates, regardless of what their past carries. Furthermore, Rep. Jones states her racial identity, indicating that her legitimacy of her political leadership abilities will be questioned in the same way Nancy Pelosi’s past actions still affect her. Both these leaders belong to the same party, and Ingraham’s questions showcase that the media coverage of women inherently created the pit women against women, regardless of party affiliation. This is congrous to the results Hayes and Lawless find regarding the “biological sex” not playing a relative role in comparison to partisanship while attracting voters.

Limitations relating to demographic. ​Due to the fact that this study is conducted with a sample size of 36 students at Michigan State University, it does not effectively represent the public as a whole. For a more comprehensive undertaking, we would need to broaden the age demographic to reflect what the voting population looks like as a whole. This is due to the fact that college aged individuals are not the only ones to watch ​Saturday Night Live​ as many have watched it throughout the course of their lives and have watched it evolve into what it is today.

GENDER NARRATIVES OF ​SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 12 In relation to the work and research published by Haraldsson and Wangnerud in 2018, what we have begun has needed to be done for years as the discrepancy has been all too apparent in recent elections where in so many other areas women have succeeded in gaining equal opportunity and access (2018). Another demographic that needs to be widened is tied to political affiliation. The majority of those that took part in our survey identified themselves as Democrat. While the hope is to gain a greater understanding on women in politics, this can only be done analyzing media usage from a significant representation of the voting population and this will be kept in mind when conducting further research on the matter.

Conclusions and Future Study In an effort to gain a greater understanding as to how the media, and in particular political satire in the form of ​Saturday Night Live ​episodes influence the way that voters make decisions when placing their votes in the polls a more thorough study must be conducted. Giving more specific questions when surveying a sample size of students would help in an effort to gain a greater differential in what we are trying to find. Media will only become more prevalent not to mention sources that simply contain political opinion and are not considered a hard source of news or political information. Women face barriers to entry as it is in the world of politics and the potential to even gain a spot in the running for office. This is why an expansion is needed in studying the externalities of everyday media in relation to voting trends and gender biases.

GENDER NARRATIVES OF ​SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 13 References Cakir-Demirhan, D., Demirhan, K. (2015). Gender and Politics: Patriarchal Discourse on social media. ​Public Relations Review, 41, 308-310. https://www-sciencedirect-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/science/article/pii/S0363811114001829 Garrett, R., Stecula, D. (2018, September 4). Subtle sexism in political coverage can have a real impact on candidates. ​Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/analysis/pink-wave-candidates.php Hayes, D., & Lawless, J. L. (2016). ​Women on the run: Gender, media, and political campaigns in a polarized era.​ New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Munir, S., Sahi, A., Shehzad, H. (2014, March 15). Media Analysis of Women’s Participation in Politics. ​Journal of Mass Communication and Journalism. https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/media-analysis-of-womens-participation-in-politics-21 65-7912.1000183.php?aid=25513 Che, M. (co-writer), Jost, C. (co-writer), Sublette, K. (co-writer), Michaels, L. (director).

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