Gender discourses in political campaigns and their impact on the perception of voters

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Gender discourses in political campaigns and their impact on the perception of voters

Khatuna Maisashvili

Received 12.06.2025, Revised 31.10.2025, Accepted 16.12.2025

https://doi.org/10.67524/verus6/1.2025.04

Retrieved from Vol. 1, No. 1, 2025

Pages 4-14

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of gender discourses in political campaigns in the United States, Great Britain, and Sweden to identify their impact on media representation and voter perception. The study was based on a qualitative methodology of critical discourse analysis, which examined a targeted sample of materials that included articles from leading media outlets, social media posts, and debate videos. The main results showed that, despite differences in national contexts, women politicians continue to face persistent discursive challenges. In the United States, Hillary Clinton’s campaign showed that the combination of narratives about “inauthenticity”, belonging to the establishment, and external cyber interference created a uniquely toxic environment that made it much more difficult to communicate her own political agenda. An analysis of the coverage of Kamala Harris’ candidacy in the British media demonstrated the key role of intersectionality, where her image was formed at the intersection of gender, racial, and political biases, forcing her to simultaneously resist various forms of stereotyping. The Swedish case has revealed the paradox of a society with a high level of formal equality, where women leaders such as Anna Lööf face informal but highly destructive barriers in the form of threats and systemic online harassment, which calls into question the effectiveness of only formal mechanisms for achieving equality. The study proved that problems for women in politics have evolved from formal obstacles to complex discursive traps, which requires the development of new communication strategies to counteract hidden forms of bias

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Suggested citation
Maisashvili, K. (2025). Gender discourses in political campaigns and their impact on the perception of voters. Journal of Discourse Analysis & Critical Studies, 1(1), 4-14. https://doi.org/10.67524/verus6/1.2025.04