Neoliberal Feminism and Political Leadership

The Representation of Giorgia Meloni and Elly Schlein in Popular Culture

Bibliographic Data

ID2977980
AuthorsNoemi Ciarniello (Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli), Emiliana De Blasio (0000-0002-1505-9713, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli), Donatella Selva (0000-0002-9051-7876, University of Florence, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume19
Issue4
Pages530-550
Publication date2024-05-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCultural Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1749-9755 • E-ISSN: 1749-9763
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/17499755241238135
OpenAlexW4396699658
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited44

Building on a long tradition of studies on the intertwining of politics and popular culture, the article examines the representation of the two Italian political leaders of the moment, Giorgia Meloni and Elly Schlein, offered by women's magazines. The study focuses in particular on two interrelated aspects: on the one hand, the extent to which the discursive strategies to talk about the leaders, their personal lives, careers and ideas contribute to strengthen the contemporary hegemony on feminism; on the other hand, the discursive strategies used to represent the leaders through a frame of competition typical of the neoliberalism. Indeed, we refer to the most recent trends in feminism research, contested among post-feminism, neoliberal feminism and celebrity feminism. Within this framework, we examined whether and how female political leaders can become icons of life, style and power in a way that is functional to the neoliberal narrative. The critical discourse analysis conducted on eight Italian women's magazines over the course of a year makes it possible to highlight some results that contribute to the reflection on neoliberal feminism and female leadership. In particular, leaders are presented through argumentative strategies of genealogism, exceptionalism and compensation: the ways in which magazines justify their position of power refer to family relationships and character qualities, emphasizing the characteristics closest to the neoliberal model and overshadowing all others, including political ideas. Rather, leaders are deradicalized and depoliticized to favour instead a reassuring narrative in which women have broken the glass ceiling. In that way, women's magazines renounce representing women leaders for their ideas and ideologies, and instead focus on their unique mark of difference: their gender

Exceptionalism · Feminism · Hegemony · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Media, Gender, and Advertising

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