Leiden University Student Repository

Monasch, Wapke (2024)

‘Antagonistic’, ‘Unprofessional’, ‘Witches’: The effect of female social constructs, within the framework of gender performativity, on the representation of powerful women in Dutch national politics by the Dutch media

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

Dutch media coverage of female politicians within national government has been subject to a pattern of misogynistic representation and sexist language use. Discourse used in relation to female politicians is built upon stereotypes including women as witch-like individuals, as intellectually inferior, and as aggressive instead of assertive. This thesis strives to examine the representation of Dutch female politicians in the Dutch media through a lens of gender performativity, which refers to the theory that gender is not an inherent truth but a performed social construct that can be deconstructed and analysed. Through literary review of oft-weaponised stereotypes regarding women in a professional environment, followed by discourse analysis of Dutch media coverage of women in national politics, I aim to portray an increased level of negative and stereotypical language use in Dutch news and media outlets when reporting on Dutch female politicians as opposed to their male colleagues.

Dutch Politics

Female Politicians in the Netherlands

Gender Performativity

Gender-Based Stereotypes

Misogynistic Representation in Dutch Media

Author

Monasch, Wapke

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Europe

Supervisors

Van Dam, Daný
Edelmann, Esther

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en