First Impressions of Sarah Palin: Pit Bulls, Politics, Gender Performance, and a Discursive Media (Re)contextualization

摘要

This study examines and compares discursive constructions and performance of gender in Sarah Palin's media portrayal during the first week of her nomination to the Republican vice-presidential candidacy. Using a discourse analysis of online video clips posted by 5 U.S. network news websites, the authors found a discourse rich with complexity in both Palin's gendered performance and the resulting discursive media (re)contextualization of Palin. Her gender performance serves as an example of how masculinity and femininity are performed in a complex blend and how Palin's "masculinity" is accepted and celebrated, while at the same time also firmly rooted in more traditional notions of femininity.