Self-representation of female politicians: A gendered approach to social media
Presentation Type
Abstract
Faculty Advisor
Dongdong Yang
Access Type
Event
Start Date
25-4-2025 10:30 AM
End Date
25-4-2025 11:29 AM
Description
As social media has become a prominent online space, politicians have turned to it as a heavily filtered way to reach their target audience through a veil of authenticity. Especially for female politicians who have long lacked the same success as their male counterparts, social media platforms allow women to represent themselves separately from their gender. The purpose of this study is to examine how female politicians are using social media as a means of self-representation, unaffected by gender-based expectations derived from social-role theory. This study analyzes social media content produced by three specifically selected contemporary female politicians based on verbal and nonverbal communication methods within their respective posts. These three female politicians who were selected as a purposive sample (Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Katie Britt), come from a wide range of political alignments and ethnic backgrounds. As well, each woman posted on a different social media platform (Harris on TikTok, Ocasio-Cortez on Twitch, and Britt on Youtube), highlighting how different platforms can produce the same results for self-representation. The study will highlight how factors like intersectionality and partisanship can affect how female politicians represent themselves in the public of social media. The study will also provide a hypothesis as to why female politicians represent themselves differently than their male counterparts, especially in times of election.
Self-representation of female politicians: A gendered approach to social media
As social media has become a prominent online space, politicians have turned to it as a heavily filtered way to reach their target audience through a veil of authenticity. Especially for female politicians who have long lacked the same success as their male counterparts, social media platforms allow women to represent themselves separately from their gender. The purpose of this study is to examine how female politicians are using social media as a means of self-representation, unaffected by gender-based expectations derived from social-role theory. This study analyzes social media content produced by three specifically selected contemporary female politicians based on verbal and nonverbal communication methods within their respective posts. These three female politicians who were selected as a purposive sample (Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Katie Britt), come from a wide range of political alignments and ethnic backgrounds. As well, each woman posted on a different social media platform (Harris on TikTok, Ocasio-Cortez on Twitch, and Britt on Youtube), highlighting how different platforms can produce the same results for self-representation. The study will highlight how factors like intersectionality and partisanship can affect how female politicians represent themselves in the public of social media. The study will also provide a hypothesis as to why female politicians represent themselves differently than their male counterparts, especially in times of election.
Comments
Poster presentation at the 2025 Student Research Symposium.