The Media’s War on Women: Gendered Coverage of Female Candidates*

Media coverage has notoriously and historically treated women different than men. Despite major shifts in the way that society views a woman’s role in the public sphere, the media continues to treat female politicians and candidates in a traditional gender role frames. The gendered coverage inevitably affects the outcome of the campaign because it is one of the most influential sources of information for the public. This study attempts to prove that as women continue to challenge traditional gender roles by running for higher offices, the media coverage of their campaigns becomes more gendered in nature. This is examined by coding the most prominent characteristics of gendered coverage in newspaper articles about Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Dole during their time in different levels of office to assess the level of sexism in their coverage. The study covers their time spent as the wife of a presidential candidate, as a cabinet member, as a Senator and as a presidential candidate.