Gender and Media Representations of Foreign Ministers in Gender Equal Societies: : A comparative study of how female and male ministers are represented in Swedish and US daily press

Abstract: This thesis aims to describe and compare how female and male foreign ministers are represented in Swedish and U.S. daily press. Choosing two critical cases, Swedish and U.S. media, where gendered stereotypical representation is most unlikely to occur, gives a larger chance for generalization to other countries media, and other types of media. Based upon the ontology of social constructivism and theories of gendered media representation, a qualitative analysis will be conducted to be able to describe how media representations of these foreign ministers look like. The use of gender stereotypical words and meanings used when portraying foreign ministers in media will be compared both between the female and male foreign ministers and between the Swedish and U.S. daily press. The analysis will show that the foreign ministers are portrayed differently based on sex, where women are portrayed as weak and emotional, with their competence doubted, while the men are strong and unquestionable competent.