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- Title
Writing Bill Clinton: Mediated Discourses on Hegemonic Masculinity and the 2008 Presidential Primary.
- Authors
Khan, Kherstin; Blair, DianeM.
- Abstract
This study seeks to examine how traditional gender scripts function to reinforce hegemonic discourses about groups that already occupy positions of political power and dominance. A close analysis of the 2008 Democratic Primary coverage reveals that the media discursively framed former president Bill Clinton's role reversal as spouse of a presidential candidate as a reaffirmation of hegemonic discourses about masculinity and the presidency. The media framing positioned Bill Clinton as the popular, patriarchal head of the Democratic Party. Emphasizing his celebrity and charm among Democrats, his attempts to protect and legitimize his wife's candidacy, and his political experience and prowess, the co-construction of President Clinton by the campaign and the media not only continued to focus attention on the former president but also highlighted and reinforced traditional gender expectations for the presidency. We argue that this framing of Bill Clinton as the popular, patriarchal head of the Democratic Party ultimately functioned rhetorically to marginalize Senator Clinton's campaign and re-center the connection between hegemonic masculinity and the presidency.
- Subjects
HEGEMONY; MASCULINITY; PRIMARIES; CLINTON, Bill, 1946-; POWER (Social sciences)
- Publication
Women's Studies in Communication, 2013, Vol 36, Issue 1, p56
- ISSN
0749-1409
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1080/07491409.2012.754387