“I don’t view myself as a woman politician, I view myself as a politician who’s a woman”: The discursive management of gender identity in political leadership Jasmin Sorrentino¹ and Prof Martha Augoustinos² FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide Introduction Analysis “I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man… not now, not ever” • The analysis revealed that Gillard was required to account for three main issues related to her gender: 1) How she felt as Australia's first female PM; • In October 2012 Former Prime Minister (PM) Julia Gillard delivered a powerful speech in 2) The role personal ambition played in her elevation to the position of PM; which she accused the leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott of sexism and misogyny 3) Whether her perceived lack of a traditional family consisting of a husband and children made her • This speech attracted both domestic and international interest and controversy: while unable to understand the concerns of ordinary Australians women worldwide welcomed and applauded the speech, the Australian press gallery • Gillard’s non-normative status was treated as an accountable matter: speakers constructed their condemned it descriptions and questions in such a way as to hold her culpable for breaching social norms, or what is • The backlash generated from the delivery of this speech provides some indication of what understood to be normative for incumbents of the gender category ‘woman’ may be at stake for female leaders who orient specifically to the issue of gender in their talk • Examination of these issues showed that during the first 18 months of her incumbency, Gillard worked • Despite the prominence of the misogyny speech, there has been less detailed analysis of strategically to play down her gender as inconsequential to her role as PM (see Extract 1 below) the way in which Gillard attended to her gender during the first 18 months of her incumbency Extract 1 Analytic Objective LJ Are you proud to be Australia’s first female Prime Minister? (.6) • To explicate how former PM Julia Gillard oriented to and managed claims pertaining to JG well I’m proud to be Prime Minister and I’m conscious ((smiley talk)) ah that it’s a:: a record being the first ah woman .hhh ah to hold this job .hhh but I don’t (.) really in my own mind (.) put a big emphasis on that .hhh ah I’ve her identity as a woman, during the first 18 months of her incumbency as PM utilising said it in the past and I genuinely feel it I don’t .hhh view myself as a .hhh woman politician .hhh I view myself as a politician (.) who’s a woman .hhh I didn’t (.) go into politics predominantly .hhh to make a point about (.) women naturalistic data and equality .hhh I went into politics to make a point about opportunity and change Methodology Conclusions • This study is the first to show how gender as a social category is resisted in talk Analytic • This research adopts a Discursive Psychological approach that draws on Conversation Analysis (CA) and Membership • Indeed it appears that female leaders face a double bind whereby making gender salient may result in Approach Categorisation Analysis (MCA) accusations of ‘playing the gender card’ as demonstrated by the media’s portrayals of the misogyny • Australian Labor Party, PM’s press office website and the speech. However, remaining silent on such issues is equally problematic and positioned as not search engine Google provided efficient access to data Data Collection • The data had to occur between June 2010 and October 2012 advocating for women’s issues and contain talk where gender was either implicitly or • Therefore although male leaders can transcend gender, it appears that gender may always be an issue explicitly occasioned by speakers for female leaders • 10 transcripts of television, web broadcast, and radio Transcription References interviews were selected for detailed transcription and Donaghue, N. (2015). Who Gets Played By ‘The Gender Card’? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Coverage of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Sexism and Misogyny Speech in the Australian Print Media. Australian Feminist Studies,30,161-178. Eagly, A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109, 573-598. analysis Edwards, D., & Potter, J. (1992). Discursive psychology. London: Sage Publications. Okimoto, T. G., & Brescoll, V. L. (2010). The price of power: Power seeking and backlash against female politicians. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 923-936. Hall, L. J., & Donaghue, N. (2013). ‘Nice girls don't carry knives': Constructions of ambition in media coverage of Australia's first female prime minister. British Journal of Social Psychology, 52, 631-647..