Content Analysis of Online Commenters on Sexism in the 2008 Presidental Campaign.
Abstract
Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin played prominent roles in the 2008 presidential primary and general campaigns, inviting a discussion of sexism. The unstoppable growth of the Internet has allowed news consumers to share opinions with ease. In this study, I compared comments left on the comment board following an article on perceived sexism by Clinton supporters to the comments left on the comment board following an article on perceived sexism by Palin supporters. The comments were coded for sexist content using positive/negative versions of subtle, covert, and blatant sexism. The results indicate that 75.9% of the comments about Palin were negatively sexist, while only 67.2% of the comments about Clinton were negatively sexist. Results suggest that factors influencing sexist perceptions may include the candidate?s family, the candidate?s stage in his or her political career, and pre-existing commenter characteristics.
Subject
Internet
Forums (Discussion and debate)
Sarah Palin
Hillary Clinton
Sexism
Women in government
Elections, United States
Presidential candidates
Presidential campaigns
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/38604Citation
Oshkosh Scholar, Volume IV, 2009
Part of
Licensed under: