Gender biases and linguistic sexism in political communication: A comparison of press news about men and women Italian ministers

Abstract

This research on press communication uses a synchronic perspective concerning eighteen ministers, balanced by gender, in the Renzi government (in 2014), as well as a diachronic perspective concerning women ministers from five governments (from 2006-2014). The governments in 2014 and of 2013 were predominantly center-left, with the participation of center and center-right parties, whereas the previous governments had technical-professional rather than political ministers (in 2011), center-right (in 2008), and center-left (in 2006) ministers. In the synchronic analysis we explored the different ways in which the ministers are named, the relative presence of sexist/non-sexist, agentive/non-agentive, and abstract/concrete language in which they were presented. The first analysis comprised 332 headlines and the second comprised 1,356 headlines; we conducted a numerical and lexicographical analysis on the headlines. The results showed: more coverage for men than for women; gender biases in naming ministers involving a greater number of citations of women with both first and last name, whereas there were a greater number of citations of men with their first name only; the prevalence of sexist language that uses the generic masculine rather than the specific feminine (that is, the grammatical feminization of a typically masculine form) in representing women; an increment of the specific feminine in representing women in the last three governments over the previous two; no gender differences in the use of "I" and "We" as markers of agency; more quotations of direct discourse for women than for men; language slightly more abstract than concrete, for both men and women; more positive adjectives for women, and more negative adjectives for men. The results are discussed in relation to the international literature and to the Italian cultural-political context. Keywords RiassuntoLa presente indagine sulla comunicazione a mezzo stampa utilizza una prospettiva sincronica nei confronti di diciotto ministri/e del governo Renzi (nel 2014), bilanciati/e per genere, nonché una prospettiva diacronica sulle minstre di cinque governi (dal 2006-2014). I governi del 2014 e del 2013 erano prevalentemente di centro-sinistra, con anche la partecipazione di partiti di centro e centro-destra, mentre i precedenti governi avevano ministri tecnici e non politici (nel 2011), di centro-destra (nel 2008) e centro-sinistra (nel 2006). Nell'analisi sincronica abbiamo esplorato i diversi modi in cui sono nominati i/le ministri/e, la relativa presenza di un linguaggio sessista / non sessista, agentivo / non agentivo e astratto / concreto, per parlare di loro nella stampa. La prima analisi ha compreso 332 titoli e la seconda 1.356 titoli. Su di essi è stata condotta un'analisi numerica e lessicografica. I risultati hanno mostrato: maggiore copertura giornalistica per i ministri che per le ministre; biases di genere nel nominare i/le ministri/e, con un maggior numero di citazioni del nome e cognome per le ministre, e un maggior numero di citaz...

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