All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2023 |
Outros Autores: | |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i1.6139 |
Resumo: | The Covid-19 pandemic has repeatedly been framed by politicians and the media alike as this generation’s “Great War.” Metaphors are often used in political reportage as effective discursive tools to influence and persuade readers. War metaphors especially are frequently used in election campaigns, leadership spills, and during times of political unrest to portray politics as a brutal and competitive (masculine) arena. As such, the use of militaristic language and war metaphors to describe the shared challenges during a global pandemic is unsurprising. Framing the pandemic as a war can rally citizens by appealing to their sense of national and civic duty at a moment of crisis. Yet such framing is problematic as it draws on stereotyping cultural myths and values associated with war, reinforcing patriarchal understandings of bravery and service that glorify hegemonic masculinity while excluding women from the public sphere. Using a feminist critical discourse analysis, this article will examine Australian print media coverage of the first six months of the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on two case studies—the prime minister and “frontline” workers—to further understand the gender bias of mainstream media. We argue that, by drawing on war metaphors in Covid-19 coverage which emphasizes protective masculinity, the media reproduce and re-enforce political and societal gender stereotypes and imbalances. |
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All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19Australian politics; care work; Covid-19; crisis leadership; discourse analysis; gendered mediation; Scott Morrison; war metaphorsThe Covid-19 pandemic has repeatedly been framed by politicians and the media alike as this generation’s “Great War.” Metaphors are often used in political reportage as effective discursive tools to influence and persuade readers. War metaphors especially are frequently used in election campaigns, leadership spills, and during times of political unrest to portray politics as a brutal and competitive (masculine) arena. As such, the use of militaristic language and war metaphors to describe the shared challenges during a global pandemic is unsurprising. Framing the pandemic as a war can rally citizens by appealing to their sense of national and civic duty at a moment of crisis. Yet such framing is problematic as it draws on stereotyping cultural myths and values associated with war, reinforcing patriarchal understandings of bravery and service that glorify hegemonic masculinity while excluding women from the public sphere. Using a feminist critical discourse analysis, this article will examine Australian print media coverage of the first six months of the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on two case studies—the prime minister and “frontline” workers—to further understand the gender bias of mainstream media. We argue that, by drawing on war metaphors in Covid-19 coverage which emphasizes protective masculinity, the media reproduce and re-enforce political and societal gender stereotypes and imbalances.Cogitatio Press2023-02-28info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i1.6139https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i1.6139Media and Communication; Vol 11, No 1 (2023): Global Inequalities in the Wake of Covid-19: Gender, Pandemic, and Media Gaps; 91-1012183-2439reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAPenghttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6139https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6139/6139Copyright (c) 2023 Blair Williams, Brent Greerinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessWilliams, BlairGreer, Brent2023-06-29T17:45:24Zoai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/6139Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T16:47:31.751132Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 |
title |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 |
spellingShingle |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 Williams, Blair Australian politics; care work; Covid-19; crisis leadership; discourse analysis; gendered mediation; Scott Morrison; war metaphors |
title_short |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 |
title_full |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 |
title_fullStr |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 |
title_full_unstemmed |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 |
title_sort |
All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19 |
author |
Williams, Blair |
author_facet |
Williams, Blair Greer, Brent |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Greer, Brent |
author2_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Williams, Blair Greer, Brent |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Australian politics; care work; Covid-19; crisis leadership; discourse analysis; gendered mediation; Scott Morrison; war metaphors |
topic |
Australian politics; care work; Covid-19; crisis leadership; discourse analysis; gendered mediation; Scott Morrison; war metaphors |
description |
The Covid-19 pandemic has repeatedly been framed by politicians and the media alike as this generation’s “Great War.” Metaphors are often used in political reportage as effective discursive tools to influence and persuade readers. War metaphors especially are frequently used in election campaigns, leadership spills, and during times of political unrest to portray politics as a brutal and competitive (masculine) arena. As such, the use of militaristic language and war metaphors to describe the shared challenges during a global pandemic is unsurprising. Framing the pandemic as a war can rally citizens by appealing to their sense of national and civic duty at a moment of crisis. Yet such framing is problematic as it draws on stereotyping cultural myths and values associated with war, reinforcing patriarchal understandings of bravery and service that glorify hegemonic masculinity while excluding women from the public sphere. Using a feminist critical discourse analysis, this article will examine Australian print media coverage of the first six months of the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on two case studies—the prime minister and “frontline” workers—to further understand the gender bias of mainstream media. We argue that, by drawing on war metaphors in Covid-19 coverage which emphasizes protective masculinity, the media reproduce and re-enforce political and societal gender stereotypes and imbalances. |
publishDate |
2023 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2023-02-28 |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i1.6139 https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i1.6139 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i1.6139 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6139 https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6139/6139 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2023 Blair Williams, Brent Greer info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2023 Blair Williams, Brent Greer |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio Press |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio Press |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Media and Communication; Vol 11, No 1 (2023): Global Inequalities in the Wake of Covid-19: Gender, Pandemic, and Media Gaps; 91-101 2183-2439 reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
instname_str |
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
instacron_str |
RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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