Construction of Masculinity and Femininity in Political Communication

The article regards the phenomenon of political communication from the perspective of the particularities of constructing masculinity and femininity by politicians. According to the theory of the social construction of gender an individual’s gender identity is shaped in the process of constructing gender relations in communicative interaction. The academic novelty of the article consists in applying the theses of this theory to the sphere of political communication and analyzing some devices of creating the images of masculinity and femininity by famous English and American politicians in their discourse. As structural components of gender identity, masculinity and femininity turn out to be modifiable parameters depending on the pragmatic attitudes of communicators. Traditional androcentrism of political discourse may account for modifying the female speech style towards masculinity to achieve certain communicative aims.

political communication, political discourse, constructing gender, gender identity, masculinity, femininity