Engendering Transition: Portrayals of Female Politicians in the Bulgarian Press

Abstract

This study focuses on how the social, political, and cultural changes after the fall of the Berlin Wall have affected the presentation and role of female politicians in Bulgaria, and, in general, in Eastern Europe. Textual analysis of Trud, the highest-circulation daily in Bulgaria, was used to examine how female politicians were portrayed during the 2005 parliamentary elections. The analysis unequivocally indicated that press coverage of female politicians was refracted through the prism of gender stereotypes, which, in turn, exemplified the current trend of the post-communist masculinization of democracy. The findings of this study also supported the gendered mediation thesis, which argues that politics is treated by the media as a male-oriented realm, where female politicians are either treated as novelty or framed within typical stereotypes of femininity. The overall conclusion is that gendered media portrayals of female politicians lead to the creation of a social climate tolerant towards sexism, which might translate in other aspects of life as well.

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