“American women never again will be second-class citizens”: Analyzing New York Times coverage of Geraldine Ferraro’s 1984 vice-presidential bid
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58997/smc.v29i2.73Abstract
This qualitative, interpretive study sought to examine New York Times coverage of Geraldine Ferraro, the first female vice presidential candidate in the United States, during the 1984 presidential election. Employing previously established frames, the analysis found that The New York Times treated Ferraro as a viable vice presidential candidate. Some stories about Ferraro veered into Italian-American ethnic stereotypes when the angle focused on questions about her husband’s finances. Although the 1984 stories published by the Times overall showed promise that political women would move forward with equitable coverage to men, the study found that Ferraro’s bold prediction that “American women never again will be second-class citizens” did not hold true. Comparison with mainstream media coverage of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin 24 years later and of other candidates such as Hillary Clinton revealed that hegemonic masculinity in political coverage is firmly entrenched. In fact, Ferraro’s treatment by the Times in 1984 was more gender-equitable than more recent media coverage of female political candidates in the 21st century.References
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