Gender and the Presentation of Self on Campaign Websites

The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent political candidates play to gender stereotypes in their campaign communications. Through a content analysis of U.S. House of Representatives campaign websites for the 2010 election cycle, this paper examines the role that gender-based stereotypes and norms play in shaping the constructed identities of candidates for political office in the United States. By focusing on the gendered dimensions of candidates' presentation of self through both discursive and visual means, this study attempts to illuminate the process by which campaigns come to reinforce, reject, or alter gender norms during the act of campaigning for political office. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to assess whether and how these gendered norms play a role in the format and messages conveyed on campaign websites among female and male candidates