Gender Gap Through Media Lens: Visual Portrayal of Women Candidates by Indian Newspapers in Facebook

• In Event: The Visual in Politics: Rhetorics, Frames, Effects

Abstract

Women political candidates across the world are under-represented in public offices. Apart from the cultural, social, political and economic influences, mass media also contributes to the global crisis of gender imbalance in leadership roles. The situation is not much different in the biggest democracy of the world, India. In a recent report published by the IPU on Women’s Representation in Parliament, India ranks 108 among 150 countries. The juxtaposition of social media networking sites and news media has not resulted in a significant change in the portrayal of women candidates. The purpose of this study is to assess the visual portrayal of women candidates in India by the top five Indian English newspapers in their social media networks, specifically Facebook, in the period of January 1, 2014 – May 11, 2014, during the campaign and elections of the 16th Indian Parliament.

Author

• Pallavi Guha, University of Maryland