By Brigitte L. Nacos
cleav’age (noun)
the hollow visible
between a woman’s breast
when a low-cut garment
is worn
(Decarta Dictionary)
Sean Aday and James Devitt opened their study “Style Over
Substance” on newspaper coverage of female candidates and in particularly
Elizabeth Dole’s short effort to win the Republican presidential nomination in
2000, with quotations from a newspaper column that was published in the Denver
Post shortly after Geraldina Ferraro’s nomination as the first female
vice-presidential candidate of a major party. These are some of the points that
columnist Woodrow Paige made at the time:
Ferraro has nicer legs than any previous vice-presidential
candidate.
She’s a blonde. So the most looming question will be, ‘Does
she or doesn’t she?'
Will she be the first vice president to enter a wet T-shirt
contest?”
Based on their case study, Aday and Devitt concluded in 2000 that there was still gender bias in the media. In particular, they found that females received less issue coverage than their male counterparts but more personal coverage which included their appearance and attire. Judging from the media’s recent coverage of Hillary Clintons cleavage, this sort of gender bias is alive and well—although some reporters and editors have become aware enough of this traditional gender bias in the media that they write occasionally about the appearance of male politicians and candidates as well, typically about their hair cuts and styles.
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