Gender matters in questioning presidents
This paper traces the increasing prominence of women in the White House press corps over the latter half of the
20th century, and considers how this trend toward greater gender balance has impacted the questioning of
presidents. Modest gender differences are documented in the topical content of questions, with women journalists slightly favoring
domestic policy and private-sphere topics relative to men. More substantial differences are documented in aggressiveness, with
women journalists asking more adversarial questions, and more assertive questions at least in the earlier years of the sampling
period. The topical content differences are broadly aligned with traditional conceptions of gender, but the stronger differences
in aggressiveness run contrary to such conceptions.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Data and methodology
- 3.The feminization of the president’s questioners
- 4.Topical content of questions
- 5.Adversarial questioning
- 6.Assertive questioning
- 7.Discussion
- Note
-
References
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