Academic CentreCommunication of Female and Male Deputy Candidates on the Social Network Facebook During the Pre-Election Period of 14th Saeima
https://doi.org/10.22364/ms23.06 | pp. 52-60 | PDF
Guntis Meisters
University of Latvia
Abstract. The European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 aims to increase women’s participation in politics. Although women’s participation in politics has grown in recent years, the numbers are still insufficient due to various barriers such as gender stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and violence. The objectives of the study are to establish whether and how gender stereotypes are manifested in the communication of male and female candidates for the 14th Saeima (the parliament of Latvia) on Facebook one month before the elections, what persuasive communication techniques have been used by the candidates to attract votes on the aforementioned social network, whether and how gender stereotypes are manifested in the communication of voters with male and female candidates for the Saeima. Furthermore, the differences in language use between male and female candidates for the 14th Saeima (sociolinguistic gender model) are investigated. The theoretical part of the study describes the differences between the concepts of sex and gender, gender roles, gender stereotypes, as well as gender in political communication. The study considers social media and political communication, persuasive communication and the sociolinguistic gender model. The results of the study indicate the presence of gender stereotypes in politicians’ communication with voters, as well as voters’ communication with politicians. This is more evident in the communication of men.
Keywords: parliament, politicians, comments, voters, gender stereotypes, persuasion, female candidates, parliamentary candidates
In: Media and Society, 2023. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Mediji un sabiedrība, 2023. Rakstu krājums. Riga, University of Latvia, 2024. 108 p.