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The observer | Wednesday, January 25, 2023 | ndsmcobserver.com
Words matter: Gendered language in politics weaponizes them against women Ainsley Hillman BridgeND
One of t he most st r i k ing aspects of la ng uage is its abi lit y to be inter preted in ma ny dif ferent ways. A phrase cou ld mea n a m i l lion dif ferent t h ings to a m i l lion dif ferent people, a nd a simple cha nge in tone, word choice a nd sy nta x cou ld cha nge ever y t h ing. La ng uage a nd polit ics a re insepa rable. Words a re t he modus opera ndi of a l l polit icia ns, a nd t he impact of moder n la ng uage on women in polit ics is somet h ing to be wa r y of. There a re 2,967 women holding elected off ice in t he U.S. Th is nu mber pa les in compa r ison to t he approx imately 167.5 m i l lion women, of a l l ages, in t he U.S. Women ma ke up more t ha n 50 % of A mer ica’s popu lat ion. Yet, t hey on ly hold 30 % of elected of f ices on t he federa l, state a nd loca l levels – a nd t h is 30 % is a recordbrea k ing hig h, as more t ha n ever before women a re now engag ing in polit ica l of f ice. A meager 30 % is impressively low for a “record-brea k ing h ig h.” Holding t he r ig ht to vote for over a cent ur y a nd exceeding men in bot h qua nt it y a nd qua lit y of persons educated, A mer ica n women have a l l of t he tools necessa r y for success in t he polit ica l sphere. Yet, t he gendered la ng uage of const it uents, media a nd ot her polit icia ns presents a n a lmost impenet rable ba r r ier to women r u nning for elected of f ice. For decades, men have benef ited f rom stereot y pes a round gender in polit ics, wh ich consistent ly associate mascu linit y a nd ef fect ive leadersh ip. Mered it h Con roy, a polit ica l science professor at Ca lifor n ia State Universit y Sa n Ber na rdino, engaged in a resea rch st udy to exa m ine t he use of gendered la ng uage in president ia l elect ions f rom 2000 to 2012. E xa m ining a ra ndom sa mple of 300 pr int-ed it ion news a r t icles f rom New York Times a nd USA Today, Conroy recorded a l l t ra its used to descr ibe a l l president ia l ca ndidates a nd created what is, in essence, a “t ra its database.” Rely ing on a n ex istent u ndersta nding of “gendered t ra its” f rom psycholog y a nd polit ica l science, t ra its w it h in t he database were labeled as mascu line, fem inine or gender-neut ra l. Mascu line t ra its m ig ht include “r isk-ta ker” or “f ig hter,” fem inine t ra its cou ld be “compassionate” or “caut ious” a nd neut ra l t ra its were t hose li ke “intel ligent,” “old” or “lia r.” A mong t he a r t icles exa m ined, 56 % of t he t ra its recorded as descr ibing president ia l ca nd idates were categor i zed as neut ra l, 30 % as mascu line a nd 14% as fem inine. The most com mon mascu line t ra its were “agg ressive” a nd “con f ident,” genera l ly f ra med in a posit ive
lig ht. The most com mon fem inine t ra its were “wea k” a nd “inconsistent,” genera l ly used negat ively. Delv ing f ur t her into t he data, Conroy found t hat, a mong a l l fem inine t ra its used to descr ibe ca ndidates, on ly 31% ca r r ied a posit ive tone. Compa re t his to t he over whelm ing 67% of mascu line t ra its used posit ively, a nd it is no sur pr ise t hat mascu linit y has become associated w it h ef fect ive polit ica l leadership. Thoug h t his study was published in 2015, t he use — a nd potent ia l ha r m — of gendered la ng uage is more releva nt now t ha n ever before. A nd it’s no longer as subt le as cha racter t ra its. Dona ld Tr ump’s la ng uage dur ing his presidenc y a lone prov ides one of t he clea rest exa mples of t he ha r m done to women in polit ics by use of gendered, a nd f ra n k ly sex ist, la ng uage : At a news conference in Apr i l of 2016, t he for mer president cla imed t hat his opponent, Hi l la r y Clinton, has “not hing else to of fer” beyond her “woma n’s ca rd … a nd t he beaut if u l t hing is women don’t [even] li ke her.” Fol low ing t he 2020 v ice president ia l debate, Tr ump sa id t hat “[Ka ma la Ha r r is is] t his monster t hat was onstage w it h Mi ke Pence … She was ter r ible. I don’t t hin k you cou ld get worse. A nd tota l ly un li keable.” Spea k ing of Senator Eli zabet h Wa r ren, Tr ump sa id, “Goof y Eli zabet h Wa r ren, one of t he least product ive US senators, has a nast y mout h.” Tr ump refer red to for mer Spea ker of t he House, Na nc y Pelosi, as “Ner vous Na nc y” on his public t w itter account. Dur ing a n inter v iew w it h Rol ling Stone, Tr ump berated Ca rly Fior ina, his opponent in t he Republica n pr ima r y, say ing t hat she cou ld never be president because of her appea ra nce. He sa id, “Look at t hat face ! Wou ld a nyone vote for t hat … I mea n, she’s a woma n, a nd I’m not supposed to say bad t hings, but rea l ly ... come on.” Unfor tunately, t he above quotes a re on ly a sma l l por t ion of t he long list of abrasive comments Tr ump has made towa rd women in t he polit ica l sphere. From deg rading women for t heir appea ra nce to ca l ling t hem wea k or unli keable for ex hibit ing ver y nor ma l huma n behav iors, t he for mer president made a spor t of ca l ling for t h host i le sex ism aga inst women in polit ics. Beyond direct attack s on women, Tr ump’s attempts to emascu late ot her ma le polit icia ns by fem ini zing t hem f ur t her bui lds t he metaphor ica l wa l l to women enter ing t he polit ica l sphere. In a n attempt to conv ince for mer Vice President Mi ke Pence to over tur n t he resu lts of t he 2020 elect ion, Tr ump sa id, “[Pence] ca n eit her go dow n in histor y as a pat r iot … or [he] ca n go dow n in histor y as a p*ssy.” Tr ump direct ly cont rasts being a pat r iot — a posit ive a nd a lmost essent ia l t ra it for a ny nat ion’s leader
— a nd being a woma n. By evok ing fema le gen ita lia in a clea rly negat ive con notat ion, t he for mer president promoted t he h istor ica l t ie bet ween mascu lin it y a nd polit ica l leadersh ip. If t he execut ive leader of one of t he most power f u l nat ions in t he world told you t ime a nd t ime aga in t hat you were not su ited for polit ics because of you r gender or sex, wou ld you not eventua l ly sta r t to believe h im? The heav i ly gendered la ng uage we hea r used reg u la rly to descr ibe su itabi lit y for t he of f ice of t he president, compou nded w it h t he t radit iona l belief t hat mascu line t ra its a re necessa r y for execut ive leadersh ip, for t if ies t he idea t hat fem in in it y a nd fem in ine qua lit ies a re i l l-su ited for leadersh ip. In consequence, t he improper idea t hat women a re not capable of ef fect ive polit ica l leadersh ip becomes more a nd more deeply ing ra ined in t he A mer ica n psyche. From t heir yout h, women a re taug ht t h roug h h istor y, ex per ient ia l lea r n ing a nd t he la ng uage of ou r cu ltu re t hat polit ics is a “ma n’s world” w it h no room for women. We a re incredibly luck y to be seeing so ma ny women r u n for polit ica l of f ice r ig ht now — especia l ly g iven t he cu ltu re of tox ic mascu lin it y wh ich has washed over t he A mer ica n polit ica l sphere. We need to elect t he most qua lif ied ca ndidates to of f ice, rega rd less of t heir gender. However, t he cu r rent pool of ca ndidates is limited by t he use of gendered la ng uage, as ma ny h ig h ly qua lif ied women a re discou raged f rom even consider ing ca ndidac y. We ca n not a l low gendered la ng uage to cont inue socia li zing t he not ion t hat women don’t have a place in polit ics. We ca n not a l low gendered la ng uage to cont inue excluding more t ha n ha lf of t he A mer ica n popu lat ion f rom polit ics. A nd in a t ime of such volat i lit y — where cha nge is not on ly necessa r y, but a lso decided ly happen ing — we cer ta in ly ca n not a l low gendered la ng uage to waste ou r oppor tu n it y to put more women in of f ice. Such m inor t h ings as what we say ca n impact such major ef fects as who leads t he f ree world. Choose you r words w isely. Ainsley Hillman, a sophomore living in Johnson Family Hall, is studying Business Analytics and Political Science. She currently serves as the Director of Operations within BridgeND. Some of her research interests include U.S. foreign policy and the intersection of environmental and social justice. BridgeND is a multi-partisan political club committed to bridging the partisan divide through respectful and productive discourse. It meets on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. in Duncan Student Center W246 to learn about and discuss current political issues, and can be reached at bridgend@nd.edu or on Twitter @bridge_ND. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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