Date of Award
4-27-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Journalism, MSMC
First Advisor
Mary Jackson Pitts
Committee Members
Lillie Fears; Sandra Combs
Call Number
ISBN 9780355827668
Abstract
This paper explores how gender stereotyping occurs in major U.S. elections by identifying the commonly used adjectives and descriptors used to describe Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump in their respective campaigns for the 2016 presidential election. Numerous scholars have studied how gender stereotyping affects women. Previous literature suggests male candidates receive the vast majority of press coverage, but women are typically described in more stereotypically "female" terms in regard to their character and personality, while male candidates are often described in male terms. Previous research also shows the distinction between "harder" political issues which are considered more male and the "softer" female issues. To explore this phenomenon, newspaper articles were content analyzed to determine trends regarding descriptors used to describe Clinton versus Trump. Although the sample showed Clinton's name tied more frequently to issues than Trump, the data still suggested gender stereotypes are used to describe political candidates.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Blackburn, Kimberely A., "Clinton Versus Trump: A Content Analysis of Framing and Gender Stereotypes in Newspaper Coverage of the 2016 Presidential General Election" (2018). Student Theses and Dissertations. 518.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/518
