Italian Political Communication and Gender Bias: Press Representations of Men/Women Presidents of the Houses of Parliament (1979, 1994, and 2013)
Gilda Sensales1a, Alessandra Areni2a, Alessandra Dal Secco3b
Abstract
ARTICLE HISTORY: The study considers mass media communication as intertwined with social norms, as assumed by the Received January 2016 perspective of social representations. It explores the Italian Received in revised form April 2016 press communication by focusing on three pairs of men and Accepted May 2016 women politicians with different political orientations and Available May 2016 all serving as presidents of the Houses of Parliament in three legislatures. The article concentrates on five newspapers in order to sound out the presence of a possible gender bias in favor of men in the coverage. It explores the strategic use of language to enhance or penalize the role of women politicians. In order to scrutinize the role of gender visibility KEY WORDS: and discrimination, the study compares how women and men presidents are named and examines the linguistic Social representations theory sexism/nonsexism used for women politicians also in Political communication Gender bias relation to the ideological/cultural orientations of Linguistic sexism/nonsexism newspapers. Thereby, 591 headlines were collected and Lexicographical analysis analyzed with SPAD-T statistical package. The results, for some cases, confirm the trends revealed in the international literature, in other cases, disprove expectations.
© 2016 IJSCL. All rights reserved
1 Associate Professor, Email: [email protected] (Corresponding Author) Tel: +39-064-9917659 2 Associate Professor, Email: [email protected] 3 PhD, Email: [email protected] a Sapienza University of Rome, Italy b National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty, Italy
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1. Introduction representations of men/women politicians in the press. This study, mainly descriptive, olitical communication characterized by examines how communication is intertwined gender bias is an issue of particular with social norms as assumed by the tradition P interest in social psychology and mass of social representations. In particular, we media research. At an international level, early explore the political communication of three studies on elections in the 1980s revealed pairs of male and female politicians, each with gender bias (Carroll & Schreiber, 1997; Kahn, different political orientations, and all serving 1992, 1994; Kahn & Goldenberg, 1991), as presidents of the Houses of Parliament over where less space was dedicated to female the course of three legislatures. We will start candidates than to their male counterparts. by focusing on newspapers coverage in order Over the next electoral cycles, part of the to sound out the presence of a possible gender literature emphasized the new balance in the bias in favor of men, analyzing its possible coverage of men and women politicians in the evolution over time. This will allow us to news (Bystrom, 2004; Bystrom, Robertson, & adopt both a diachronic and an ideological/ Banwart, 2001; Devitt, 2002; Jalalzai, 2006; cultural perspective, as we will examine the Kittilson & Fridkin, 2008; Meeks, 2012; Smith, different political orientations of our six 1997), whereas other studies showed the politicians and of the newspapers over several persistence in the disparity between women years. and men, where the latter were favored (Falk, 2009; Lühiste & Banducci, in press.). As social representations theory suggests, we contend that language is a symbolic repertoire Alongside this research tradition, there are that contributes to producing and reproducing, three perspectives centered on the linguistic or refuting shared norms, by activating specific dimension. One line of study, on social social-psychological processes. In the light of representations, proposed the analysis of the this assumption, we will explore the strategic lexical style in media texts to unveil traditional use of language in journalistic communications stereotypes in representations of gender that enhances or penalizes the role of women relationships, as in the case of the pioneering politicians. Aiming to uncover visibility and work of Kruse, Weimer, and Wagner (1988). discrimination, we will then pay particular Two other lines of research, starting in the late attention to how women and men presidents twentieth century and the beginning of the are addressed—whether their first names or twenty-first century, centered on linguistic surnames are used. We will also consider the sexism applied to political communication linguistic sexism/non sexism when women (Wodak, 2003). The first one centered on politicians are referred to. Finally, we will ‘gender and language’ (Attenborough, 2014; examine the role played by the ideological/ Talbot, 2006; Wodak, 1997), and the second cultural orientation of newspapers in relation one focused on ‘political linguistics’ to media coverage, to how they choose to (Politolinguistik) (Wodak & de Cillia, 2006). address the six different presidents, and to the All three approaches assume the opacity of extent in which sexist/nonsexist language is language, capable of masking power relations used for women politicians. In some cases, the that are revealed through the analysis of the results confirmed the trends revealed in the context and the specific linguistic devices, international literature, while in others, they which are bearers of discrimination. Based on proved expectations to be not verified. early results thus attained, there was a clear need to encourage research in this still 2. Theoretical Framework somewhat unexplored area (Martín Rojo, 2006). 2.1. Media, Gender, Language, and Politics
This lack of development in empirical research The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), created is also true as regards the Italian context where in 1889, was the first permanent forum for only a few studies exist on the role of language political multilateral negotiations. It recently in media representations of women politicians. showed interest in supporting gender equality Our research, thus, attempts to bridge this gap, and in backing women’s participation in by focusing on the comparison of politics. At the Geneva International 24 Italian Political Communication and Gender Bias
Symposium in 1989, the IPU underlined the biased language in mass media political important role played by the media in communication dedicated to men and women promoting the participation of women in involved in politics. There are two of these political life (Sensales, Areni, & Dal Secco, studies on gender bias. The first one is on 2016). On 26 March 1994, in the Inter- journalistic language (Pescia, 2010), and the Parliamentary Council in Paris, the plenary second, on the press interviews of men and policy-making body of the IPU, at its 154th women politicians (Basile, 2010). A third session, scheduled a ‘Plan of action’ to correct study is concerned with the sexist language imbalances in the participation of men and used on representations, in the press, of twenty women in political life worldwide. This Plan women ministers from four different was conceived as a guideline to inspire and governments (2006, 2008, 2011, & 2013) stimulate national action. It contained a section (Sensales et al., 2016). on the media, affirming their role in promoting a higher presence of women in politics, Pescia’s (2010) year-long survey of the avoiding stereotyped and prejudicial images of newspaper La Repubblica and of the press women. It was later revived in 1997, agency ANSA, showed a predominant use of emphasizing the gendered nature of political the masculine generic, in particular for the communication and the necessity for the offices of assessor, minister, mayor, and media to change the political culture, undersecretary, whereas there is a noted use of traditionally androcentric (IPU, 1997). the feminine for the positions of councilor, governor, deputy, and senator. Basile’s (2010) Since 1987, in Italy, awareness about the survey, however, directly analyzed linguistic function of the media had led to the behaviors of men and women politicians over publication of a book, commissioned by the eighteen interviews. The results support the Presidency of Ministers Council, on possible conclusion that the use of specific linguistic rules to prevent the use of sexist language in devices showed more agency for men than journalistic communications (Sabatini, 1987). women. Finally, the survey of Sensales et al. The assumption was that, already at a (2016) demonstrated that, in the last two linguistic level, gender discrimination was governments (2011 & 2013), the presence of operating in the Italian society, leaving women sexist language was decreasing in headlines out of certain aspects of society. Alma concerning women Ministers of the last two Sabatini (1987) thus devoted several parts of governments and in headlines concerning her book to the use of discriminatory language women politicians of the Center-Left (compared obscuring the presence of women through to women politicians of the Center-Right). specific devices, such as using the masculine declination when referring to women (the so- Overall, research shows how language called “generic masculine” (p. 22)). Many of functions as a powerful marker of sexism and the cases studied by Sabatini were about the gender discrimination. International social predominantly androcentric political world. psychological research has studied the impact Therefore, as an example, Sabatini (1987) of this use by demonstrating its possible stressed the absence of women from the first adverse consequences on women. For example, pages of newspapers dedicated to politics. She linguistic sexism stimulates the persistence of underlined the connection between grammatical stereotypes and prejudices, of a collective form and socio-cultural dynamics, at a linguistic imaginary male-dominated, and even leads to level, by stating that “the basic principle is the undermining of the same performances, always the one that the male (grammatical motivations, persuasive effectiveness, and gender) is higher, as is the male (social gender) self-esteem of women (Cralley & Ruscher, in society" (Sabatini, 1987, p. 27). 2005; Crawford & English, 1984; Gastil, 1990; McConnell & Fazio, 1996; Merkel, Maass, & Although this first study was clear in Frommelt, 2012; Mucchi-Faina, 2005; Sczesny, indicating possible lines of research, these Moser, & Wood, 2015). have remained underdeveloped, particularly in relation to the political sphere. It was not until Accordingly, we decided to carry out a mainly the early twenty-first century that empirical descriptive study on press representations of studies were found on the role of selective and three pairs of politicians—men/women. The
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pairs differ in political orientation, and the five promote a synchronic/diachronic comparative newspapers were chosen because of their perspective concerning the representations of different ideological and cultural viewpoints. men/women politicians of different political They were monitored for more than three and cultural leanings over the periods of three decades. We included all the news dedicated different legislatures. We also explore the to these politicians, in 1979, 1994, and 2013, diversity of newspapers in their ideological/ falling within a temporal range of four weeks cultural orientations. ensuing the first day of their election. We chose such a temporal span because it 3. Methodology corresponds to the phase when politicians are presented to the public. The debate can, 3.1. Materials therefore, be more heated and exposed to any gender bias. We collected 591 headlines through an automatic search, using the name, and/or During these three legislatures, there is a surname of the six politicians, on the database different female presence in the parliament Quid of the Senate Library in Rome. The that could have had a different impact on search comprised of headlines, subheadings, journalistic political communications. In the and nut graphs of five newspapers with Chamber of Deputies, the percentage of different ideological orientations over a period elected female politicians significantly of three years: 1979, 1994, and 2013. The changed over these three periods: in 1979, newspapers examined are L’Unità (frequencies there were 8.25% and in 1994, 14.44%; while 116; cultural orientation: Left), La Repubblica in 2013 the figures jumped to 31.4% (Calloni (frequencies 139; cultural orientation: Center- & Cedroni, 2011; Camera dei Deputati, 2015). Left), Il Corriere della Sera (frequencies 131; These percentages are a representation of the cultural orientation: Center), Il Tempo political landscape, in which the media (frequencies 92; cultural orientation: Center- worked. Right), Il Giornale (frequencies 113; cultural orientation: Center-Right in 1979, Right from The reason for our choosing to focus on 1994, after the transfer of ownership to the headlines is twofold. They have proven Berlusconi family and Indro Montanelli’s valuable in different media analyses for their resignation from the position of Director) (for capability, first, to ‘frame’ the news (Condit, the ideological-cultural characterization of the Ferguson, Kassel, Thadhani, Gooding, & five newspapers see Castronovo & Tranfaglia, Parrott, 2001; León, 1997; for the general role 1994, 2002). To avoid excessive data dispersion of headlines see also Atai & Mozaheb, 2014), (especially in reference to those of the first and, second, to act as ‘cognitive shortcuts’ by legislature analyzed here), the five newspapers calling attention to, guiding and filtering the were grouped into three ideological/cultural reader’s comprehension (Andrew, 2007). areas: Left/Center-Left (frequencies 255), Center (frequencies 131), Right/Center-Right The objective of the present descriptive study (frequencies 205). Each period under is to analyze gender bias in the political press observation, referred to the three different and to examine how language is used legislatures, ranging from the date of the strategically to enhance or obscure the election of each president to four weeks later. presence of women in politics. At the operational level, we monitored the following The six politicians chosen for our analysis are three points: first, gender bias in media three women and three men. The three women, coverage and in the use of first names and/or who are at the head of the Chamber of surnames of men/women politicians, all Deputies, are: Nilde Iotti (PCI, Partito serving as presidents of the Houses of Comunista Italiano, Italian Communist Party, Parliament in three legislatures; second, the Left, elected in 1979 - VIII legislature); Irene extent to which sexist/nonsexist language is Pivetti (Lega Nord, Northern League, Center- used for women presidents; and third, the role Right, elected in 1994 - XII legislature); and played by the ideological/cultural orientation Laura Boldrini (SEL, Sinistra, Ecologia e of newspapers in relation to the first two Libertà, Left, Ecology and Freedom, Left, points. Through these three points, we elected in 2013 - XVII legislature). The three
26 Italian Political Communication and Gender Bias
men, who are at the head of the Senate, are: Presidente in Vocabolary Treccani Amintore Fanfani (DC, Democrazia Cristiana, [http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/Presidente/]. Christian Democrats, Center-Right, elected in They note that Presidentessa is now used in 1979); Luigi Carlo Scognamiglio (Forza Italia, situations where irony is directed toward the Forza Italy, Center-Right, elected in 1994); politician, or to refer, in jest, to the wife of a and Pietro Grasso (PD, Partito Democratico, President.). Therefore, the use of sexist Democratic Party, Center-Left, elected in language, as well as the extent of its use, were 2013). identified by detecting the presence and frequency of the following two modalities in 3.2. Procedure the vocabulary of the headlines: the generic masculine (e.g., il Presidente, with the definite The headlines were imported into a textual article in the masculine for women); and the file, a numerical file was built encoding dissymmetric feminine (with the feminine informations, derived from the newspapers definite article before the surname, e.g., la and the headlines, about the name of the Jotti). The latter is dissymmetrically used only newspaper and its ideological-cultural area, for women and not for men. On the contrary, the name of the president and his male or the use of a nonsexist language, as well as the female gender, and the year related to the three extent of its use were identified by detecting legislatures. the presence and frequency in the vocabulary of the headlines of the following two As mentioned above, we measured gender bias modalities: the specific feminine (e.g., la in the following variables, by either comparing Presidente, with the definite article in the the three pairs of male/female politicians, or feminine form), and the neutral form (e.g., by focusing on female politicians only: (a) Presidente, without any definite article). media coverage, detecting the number of news headlines dedicated to each politician, whether 3.3. Data Analysis they were mentioned alone or in pairs, and considering the newspapers’ positioning in With the support of the SPSS software, we terms of gender, legislature, and cultural/ carried out an analysis of frequencies of ideological; (b) the frequency in which their numerical variables. With the SPAD-T first names and/or surnames were used; which software (Lebart, Morineau, & Bécue, 1989), also contributed to (c) gender visibility, which we conducted a lexicographical analysis on all is either clearly manifested when both first the words of the headlines. With the latter, we names and surnames are used, obscured when used the step Mots (Words). Through Mots, we only the surname is mentioned, or trivialized obtained the frequency distribution of the when only the first name is used. (In Italian overall vocabulary. The Mots output offered a journalism, this is a process regarding the first descriptive analysis that allowed us to news in the Second Republic, which started focus on the frequency of the lexicon related from 1994 with Berlusconi’s government. In to: (i) first name only, surname only, and the this case, we have a communication that refers full name, of each politician; (ii) sexist/ to politics and politicians in a familiar form, nonsexist language. avoiding the traditional formal way that in the past concerned the political world, see With VOSPEC step (Vocabulaire Specifique, Sensales & Areni, 2008); (d) the extent of Specific Vocabulary), we obtained the typical sexist/nonsexist language used for the three words of newspaper headlines grouped in female politicians. three areas concerning their ideological/cultural orientation—Left/Center-Left (L’Unità and La For (d), we considered Presidente (President) Repubblica), Center (Il Corriere della Sera), as a neutral grammatical form. Originally a Right/Center-Right (Il Giornale and Il Tempo). masculine word, Presidente, with the use of This step, based on chi-square logic, identifies ‘engendering’ (or ‘regendering’) today becomes typical words used by the different feminine with the use of the definite article in newspapers clustered in the three areas. its feminine form, rendering Presidentessa ‘Typicality’ occurs when a word appears in a obsolete (see the observations of Alma group with a frequency significantly different Sabatini (1987, pp. 51-52), and the entry of from the total frequency (probability <0.01).
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The importance statistical significance of the Legislature and by Gender differences was based on a comparison made between the frequency of the word in the Figure 1 shows the number of headlines for group and the frequency that this word would each president. Lower frequencies (fr.) are for have under the assumption of random the presidents of the VIII legislature (starting distribution in the various groups. For our in 1979), Fanfani and Jotti (fr. 45), followed purposes, we analyzed the results—of the by, with much higher frequencies, Pivetti and typical words—looking only for the Scognamiglio (fr. 250), presidents of the XII frequencies related to the ways in which the legislature (starting in 1994), while Grasso and six presidents were named, and to a Boldrini, presidents of the XVII legislature sexist/nonsexist language, comparing the (starting in 2013), received the highest differences between the frequency within the coverage (fr. 296). Coverage therefore sees an group and the global frequency, and omitting increase over time, with a very large margin all other data presented by the output. compared to the first legislature. Within these general trends, Pivetti shows the greatest 4. Results coverage (fr. 147), followed by Grasso (138), Boldrini (fr. 92), Scognamiglio (fr. 79), and 4.1. Coverage of Politicians Grouped by ending with Fanfani (fr. 16) and Jotti (fr. 15).
Figure 1 Coverage by Politician. The Frequency of Headlines for Each President: Nilde Jotti, Amintore Fanfani, both Named (1979), Irene Pivetti, Carlo Scognamiglio, both Named (1994), Laura Boldrini, Pietro Grasso, both Named (2013)
Figure 2 illustrates the coverage by gender, in favor of the first, also if of very little range. showing differences between men and women,
28 Italian Political Communication and Gender Bias
Figure 2 Coverage by Gender. Frequency Distribution Percentages of Female and Male Presidents in Headlines
more evidence for the first two pairs of 4.2. Coverage of Presidents Determined by presidents, and in a more nuanced way for the the Ideological/Cultural Orientation of third president. There is only one newspaper Newspapers that is centrist in its political orientation, out of Figure 3 shows how the newspapers of the left the five selected (two are left-wing, and the in general give more coverage to the remaining two are right-wing). Thus the presidents, with the exception of headlines coverage of Il Corriere della Sera has greater devoted to the same time to Jotti and Fanfani, salience, on the one hand, for Scognamiglio, to Pivetti and Scognamiglio, as well as to than the coverage of the two Right/Center- Boldrini. In these cases, the right-wing Right newspapers, and on the other hand, for newspapers ensure greater coverage, with the pair Pivetti and Scognamiglio, than that of the two Left/Center-Left newspapers.
Figure 3 Coverage of Presidents by the Ideological/Cultural Orientations of Newspapers. Frequencies of Headlines
4.3. Naming Politicians surnames were used for the other politicians. Only Pivetti presents a higher frequency in Figure 4 shows trends in percentage in the use being called by his first name. Grasso and of first names, surnames, and full names for Boldrini have a low frequency in that respect. the six presidents. Jotti is the only president First names are never used for Fanfani, Jotti, who was mostly addressed by his full name, as and Scognamiglio. its high frequency attests. In contrast, only
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Figure 4 Naming Politicians by President. Trends in Percentage of the Use of First Name, Surname, and Full Names for the Six Presidents
Figure 5 illustrates trends in percentage of the called more frequently by their full name, and three modalities of naming politicians, even sometimes only by their first names, but grouped by their gender. Higher frequencies the latter has a very low frequency. are in general observed for the use of surnames with men, whereas the women are
Figure 5 Naming Politicians. Trends in Percentage of the Use of First Name, Surname, and Full Names for Male and Female Presidents
4.4. The Extent of Sexist/Nonsexist Language each of the four modalities. The specific feminine and the dissymmetrical feminine Figure 6 presents the frequency distribution have the higher levels, followed by the neutral for sexist/nonsexist language analyzed for form, and ending with the generic masculine.
30 Italian Political Communication and Gender Bias
Figure 6 Sexist/Nonsexist Language by Modality. Frequencies Distribution
Figure 7 groups together the four modalities of nonsexist language prevails over sexist linguistic sexism/nonsexism, and shows that language.
Figure 7 Sexist/Nonsexist Language. Frequency Distribution Percentages
Finally, Figure 8 shows trends in percentage of the higher level of nonsexist forms, whereas sexist/nonsexist language for each of the three Pivetti has higher values for sexist forms. women presidents. Jotti and Boldrini present
Figure 8 Sexist Language by Gendered Subject. Trends in Percentages Frequencies of ‘Sexist/Nonsexist Language’ for Each of the Three Female Presidents
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4.5. Typical Words Used in Newspaper used full names. In the XVII legislature, four Headlines Grouped by Their Ideological newspapers, Left/Center-Left and Right/ and Cultural Orientation Center-Right, call the president by surname. Like in the previous legislature, the three Using Vospec step, we analyzed the typical newspapers, Left/Center-Left and Center, use words used in newspaper headlines, grouped the president’s full name. Finally, only in the by their ideological and cultural orientation, last legislature do we find first names being searching for the way the six presidents are used by Left/Center-Left newspapers. named and whether a sexist/nonsexist language was used. Table 1 points out the general For women politicians, in the VIII legislature, results indicating after each linguistic form, in all newspapers always use the president’s full parenthesis, the frequency within the group name. In the XII legislature, newspapers versus the global frequency. continue to address the president by her full name. Three newspapers, Left/Center-Left and The way men politicians are addressed Center, call the president by her surname. changed with each legislature. In the VIII Three other newspapers, in this case Center legislature, newspapers used the president’s and Right/Center-Right only use her first name. surname. Only the centrist newspaper used full In the XVII legislature, all newspapers address names. In the XII legislature, newspapers the president either by her full name, or by continued to address the president by surname. surname only, except the Left/Center-Left The Left/Center-Left and Center newspapers newspapers, which use also first name only.
Table 1 Typical Words of Newspaper Headlines Grouped by Three Legislatures and the Ideological/Cultural Orientation of Newspapers
Legislatures Left/Center-Left newspapers Center newspaper Right/Center-Right newspapers
VIII - starting in Fanfani (10vs27), Nilde Jotti Fanfani (5vs27), Amintore Fanfani (12vs27), Nilde Jotti 1979 (11vs23), the generic Fanfani (1vs2), Nilde Jotti (4vs23), the generic masculine masculine (2vs3), the (6vs23) (1vs3), the dissymmetric dissymmetric feminine feminine (5vs7), the neutral (1vs7), the neutral form form (1vs2), the specific (1vs2) feminine (1vs1)
XII - starting in Scognamiglio (32vs83), Scognamiglio (22vs83), Carlo Scognamiglio (28vs83), Irene 1994 Carlo Scognamiglio Scognamiglio (8vs21), Pivetti Pivetti (15vs57), Irene (10vs22), (10vs21), Pivetti (18vs41), (14vs41), Irene Pivetti the dissymmetric feminine Irene Pivetti (24vs57), the (16vs57), Irene (7vs22), the (24vs56) dissymmetric feminine dissymmetric feminine (16vs56), the neutral form (8vs56) (5vs5), the specific feminine (3vs5)
XVII - starting in Grasso (84vs176), Pietro Pietro Grasso (17vs69), Grasso (59vs176), Pietro Grasso 2013 Grasso (28vs69), Pietro Boldrini (16vs89), Laura (24vs69), Boldrini (30vs89), (6vs6), Boldrini (43vs89), Boldrini (17vs70), the neutral Laura Boldrini (26vs70), the Laura Boldrini (27vs70), form (5vs16) generic masculine (2vs2), the Laura (6vs6), the dissymmetric feminine dissymmetric feminine (11vs20), the neutral form (9vs20), the neutral form (2vs16), the specific feminine (3vs16) (9vs16)
32 Italian Political Communication and Gender Bias
The linguistic sexism/nonsexism also changes 1994; Kahn & Golderberg, 1991), in the 1990s, in the following ways for each legislature. In a balanced coverage for men and for women the VIII legislature, the results show the politicians (Bystrom, 2004; Bystrom et al., prevalence of sexist grammatical forms with 2001; Devitt, 2002; Jalalzai, 2006; Kittilson & the generic masculine, and the dissymmetrical Fridkin, 2008; Meeks, 2012; Smith, 1997), or feminine is present in newspapers of the in some cases, a persistent gap in favor of men Left/Center-Left and the Right/Center-Right. (Falk, 2009; Lühiste & Banducci, in press), The nonsexist form of the specific feminine is but never a higher coverage for women. found in Right/Center-Right newspapers. In the XII legislature, the sexist grammatical Press coverage of presidents by the form of dissymmetrical feminine prevails in ideological/cultural orientation of newspapers all newspapers, whereas nonsexist forms are showed trends difficult to interpret. Mostly, present in Left/Center-Left newspapers with we witness a greater coverage in the the specific feminine and the neutral form. In newspapers of the Left/Center-Left, regardless the XVII legislature, the nonsexist of the political orientation of the presidents. grammatical forms prevail with the neutral Compared to this tendency, there are three form present in all newspapers and with the exceptions where increased coverage by specific feminine present in Right/Center- newspapers of the Right/Center-Right is seen Right newspapers. Sexist forms are present, when Jotti and Fanfani, Pivetti, and with the generic masculine and the Scognamiglio are nominated together, and for dissymmetric feminine, respectively in the headlines concerning Laura Boldrini. newspapers of the Right/Center-Right, and the Left/Center-Left. Furthermore, there is no gender visibility in the naming of presidents, because of an over- 5. Discussion utilization of surnames, more evident for men than for women. In parallel, regarding women, This article has analyzed for the first time the the use of full names is higher than for men link between the Italian political politicians. This offers a higher visibility for communication and gender differences in a the female identity, even though it shows a comparative perspective, both diachronic and gender bias. Then, in the first two legislatures, synchronic. Our results allow some reflection first names only, though rare, are used for and a confrontation to some of the trends Irene Pivetti, while completely absent for Jotti, highlighted in the literature cited. They reveal as for the two male presidents, Fanfani and in some cases their consistency. However, in Scognamiglio. On the contrary, in the last other cases, they show unexpected directions legislature, no gender differences are detected that we will try to interpret in relation to the because both presidents are referred by first specific historical and cultural context, as names only, though always in rare cases. suggested by social representation theory (Valencia, Gil de Montes, & Ortiz, 2013). Concerning the linguistic dimension of sexism/nonsexism for women, it is surprising In the aggregated data on media coverage of to note that nonsexist language prevails on the three pairs of presidents of the Houses of sexist language. One possible explanation for Parliament, we have found a general gender this result is attributable to the specific bias in favor of men, albeit very small. From linguistic form ‘president’ that was originally an analytical point of view, in one case, this derived from the masculine, but afterwards trend is even reversed with a higher coverage was considered neutral. This ambiguity, at the for President Irene Pivetti in 1994, whereas in level of declination, was able to remain in the previous legislature—in 1979—the two journalistic use. This is confirmed in another presidents received about the same coverage, study conducted in Italy (Sensales & Areni, in and in 2013, the woman president was less press). In this study, a higher level of covered than her male colleague. These results nonsexist language when referring to the are different from those affirmed by the female president of Confindustria [Confederation international literature that, in a convergent of Italian industrials], Emma Marcegaglia way, found in the 1980s a higher coverage for (elected on 13 March 2008), is shown men (Carroll & Schreiber, 1997; Kahn, 1992, compared to thirteen female Ministers over G. Sensales et al./ International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 4(2), 2016 ISSN 2329-2210 33
three different governments (2006, 2008, & Center newspaper in 1979 and in 2013, with 2011) and the female Secretary of the Cgil [the the added presence of the nonsexist neutral leftist Italian Trade Union], Susanna Camusso form in 2013. An unexpected result, which (elected on 3 November 2010). By contrast, in should be better investigated, emerged from most of the other research conducted in Italy, the trends relative to newspapers of the linguistic sexism is still prevalent, although Left/Centre-Left and the Right/Centre-Right. decreasing (Sensales et al., 2012, 2013, 2016). Each manifested nonsexist forms in the news However, it concerned the form ministro (male when referring to presidents of the opposition, minister), when referring to women (the rather than those of their own ideological/ generic masculine or false generic), and is cultural orientation. For example, in the news more rarely transformed into the specific Nilde Jotti and Laura Boldrini, both Left-wing, feminine ministra (female minister). were mentioned with a nonsexist language— the specific feminine—by Right/Center-Right Regarding the role of the political-cultural newspapers, as in the following headlines: orientation of politicians, a higher level of “The women president of the House elected linguistic sexism for Right/Center-Right with only 13 votes more than the minimum woman politician was remarked as in the and 109 blank ballots” (“La presidente della following headlines: “Here is the Pivetti, devil Camera eletta con soli 13 voti più del minimo and holy water” (“Ecco la Pivetti [dissymmetrical e 109 schede bianche…..”, Il Giornale, 1979); feminine], diavolo e acquasanta.”, Il Giornale, “From left are recognized radiant, president 1994); “The president of the House Irene Pietro Grasso and the women president of the Pivetti” (“Il presidente [generic masculine] House Laura Boldrini” (“Da sinistra si della Camera Irene Pivetti.”, Il Corriere della riconoscono raggianti, il presidente Pietro Sera, 1994). However, this had already been Grasso e la presidente della camera Laura underlined in previous Italian research Boldrini.”, Il Giornale, 2013); “Attack of (Sensales et al., 2016). It seems as though the Battiato in a meeting in Brussels. Revolt of press were discriminating against women Deputies. Asked the resignation. Laura politicians of the Right/Center-Right, but Boldrini, the women president of the House showed respect for women politicians of the has rejected <
34 Italian Political Communication and Gender Bias
could change the perspective of a president’s 2013). Just in this headlines we can see as, in coverage and the use of specific linguistic creating a sort of proximity between devices. Each period follows a logic politicians and ordinary citizens, newspapers sometimes in line with politics, other times in were trying to popularize politics. line with the media, following a trend widely discussed in the literature (Esser, 2013; Esser In addition to these general processes, the & Strömbäck, 2014; Magin, 2015; Mazzoleni context is also important in explaining gender & Schulz, 1999; Strömbäck, 2008). Our results differences observed in the press coverage. As therefore show the prevalence of political already noted in 1979, the difference in logic when the poor coverage of the two coverage between men and women presidents presidents in 1979 resents the dominant role of is completely irrelevant. Despite the high the party-centered politics that made nuanced under-representation of women in Parliament attention to the leaders of the moment. In 1994, (8%), for the first time, a woman—the second with the transition to the Second Republic, a time for a Communist in this role, after Pietro crisis of political parties emerges in parallel Ingrao—was elected to one of the highest with an increase in the amount of news offices of the State, whereas the Christian devoted to the process of personalization Democratic politician Amintore Fanfani was following the mediatization of politics, which confirmed president of the Senate. This novelty from then on became a feature of Italian was highly newsworthy, and it eliminated, in political communication (Campus, 2010). The the press coverage, the predictable gap in focus on the personality of the leaders makes favor of men. political communication more attractive and in keeping with the media logic, favoring the In 1994, the overall political framework increasing amount of news devoted to political completely changed. With the passage of the leaders. The leap forward in coverage electoral system from proportional to provided to the two pairs of presidents in 1994 majoritarian, new political forces assert and 2013 can be interpreted in the light of this themselves, together with a centrality of process of mediatization that was accompanied leaders. Again, trends in the press coverage by forms of trivialization of communication devoted to presidents of the Center-Right can well represented by the use of first names be explained in part as emerging from a new when referring to politicians. Here are some political reality: Irene Pivetti, from the examples of headlines referred to Irene Pivetti, Northern League, a political force of great president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1994, success despite its recent birth, is the youngest and to Laura Boldrini and Pietro Grasso, president in the history of the House of presidents of Chamber of Deputies and of Republic (31 years old), she is a recognized Senate in 2013: “<
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with 31.4%. Despite this result, the press qualitative, need to be made. These studies, coverage concerning the female president was focusing on the content analysis of for the first time clearly less than that of her communications investigated here, for instance, male counterpart. One of the factors that may should examine the positive or negative have influenced this result is the controversy coverage of the six presidents, or should between Grasso and another magistrate, explore the context of the use of nonsexist Caselli, who occupied political news for a long forms in the news concerning the three female time, and thus increased the coverage of politicians, focusing on newspapers of a Grasso. different ideological/cultural orientation than the presidents. In this way, for example, we Overall, the results show a complex, may find that the increased coverage given to articulated and controversial picture, as it Irene Pivetti is not in itself a guarantee of combines, in a biased gendered communication, overcoming sexist bias. Taken together, these aspects that sometimes discriminate against studies could spread awareness for the need to women obscuring their presence or their keep a close watch on mass media gender specificity (i.e., limiting their coverage, communications and for the interweaving or using the generic masculine), showing between formal elements of language and discrimination against women by highlighting content. An interweaving in which social- their gender (i.e., using the dissymmetric psychological research has shown to play an feminine, or using full names). This ambivalent important role in overcoming the gender gap, attitude of political communications toward making women more self-confident and women, on the one hand, shows a fluid reality, helping to build a world where women are but on the other hand, is among the causes that protagonists. discourage women from engaging in political activities (Lawless & Fox, 2010; for Italy see Acknowledgments Francescato, Mebane, Sorace, Giacomantonio, & Lauriola, 2008). We wish to thank our undergraduates and graduates for the collection of headlines and Fortunately and unexpectedly, the prevalence their transcription. of linguistic forms, overcoming these contradictory aspects, gives visibility to the References specificity of the female gender without the intervention of gender bias (i.e., the specific Andrew, B. C. (2007). Media-generated feminine). These elements of political shortcuts: Do newspaper headlines communication lead to a reflection on how present another roadblock for low- they can stimulate or inhibit a greater information rationality? The International symmetry in gender relations. At the same Journal of Press/Politics, 12(2), 24–43. time, they show the non-neutrality of language Atai, M. R., & Mozaheb, M. A. (2014). The and its embedment in gendered cultural norms, representation of Iran’s nuclear program just as the social representations theory affirms in British newspaper editorials: A critical (Kruse et al., 1988). However, they also show discourse analytic perspective. International a dialectical non-reductionist relationship Journal of Society, Culture & Language, between the use of language and the context in 1(2), 15–33. which such use takes shape (Zand-Moghadam Attenborough, F. T. (2014). Words, contexts, & Bikineh, 2015). This relationship refers to a politics. Gender & Language, 8(2), 137– role of journalistic communication that 146. actually seems to not just mirror what exists, Basile, G. (2010). Strategie linguistico- but to force existing normative rules by comunicative e differenza di genere nel effectively presenting itself as an instrument of linguaggio politico [Linguistic- social change, thus fulfilling the wishes communicational strategies and gender expressed by the IPU in 1997 (IPU, 1997). differences in political language]. In S. Sapegno (Ed.), Che genere di lingua? However, to check whether this emancipatory (pp. 77–90). Rome: Carocci. function is actually performed by Italian Bystrom, D. G. (2004). Women as political political communication, other studies, more communication sources and audiences. In
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