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When Sexism in Politics Became a Media Issue in France: Mobilization of Female Political Journalists

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On May 5th, 2015, forty-one, mostly anonymous women signed an open letter in the French national daily newspaper Libération, entitled “We, women political journalists and victims of sexism ...”. They explained that they wanted to denounce the impunity of politicians whose sexist behavior towards them, sometimes extending to sexual harassment, constituted a gender constraint in conducting political journalism on a daily basis, so they felt disadvantaged in the strategic news-gathering process, compared to their male colleagues. This open letter is our starting point for questioning the mediatization of sexism in politics. By what processes, under what conditions and in what context was the public denunciation of sexism exerted by elected representatives on women journalists possible? At the crossroads of sociology of journalism, gender studies and social problem construction, this research is based on an on-the-ground survey, consisting of semi-structured interviews (13) with male and female political journalists, working in various media (print, online press, radio, television) and under different employment statuses (permanent, freelance).

Keywords: equality between women and men ; France ; gender ; gender-based discrimination ; gender-based violence ; journalism ; media ; mobilisation ; mobilization ; political journalism ; politics ; sexism ; sexual harassment ; social movement ; women

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When Sexism in Politics Became a Media Issue in France: Mobilization of Female Political Journalists
Intellect , 79 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1386/9781789386684_5
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/content/books/9781789386684.c04
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References

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References

  1. Delphy, C. (Dir.) (2011). Un troussage de domestique. Paris: Syllepse, coll. Nouvelles Questions Féministes.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Ewick, P. , & Silbey S. (1998). The common place of law. Chicago, IL: The University Press of Chicago.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Ezekiel, J. (1996). Anti-féminisme et anti-américanisme: un mariage politiquement réussi. Nouvelles Questions Féministes, 17(1), 59.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Felstiner, W. , Abel, R. , & Sarat A. (1980–81). The emergence and transformation of disputes: Naming, blaming, claiming … Law & Society Review, 15(3/4), 631–654.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Marshall, A.-M. (2003). Injustice frames, legality, and the everyday construction of sexual harassment. Law and Social Inquiry, 28(3), 659–689.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Matonti, F. (2018). Le genre présidentiel. Enquête sur l'ordre des sexes en politique, Paris, La Découverte, coll. ‘Genre et sexualité’.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. McAdam, D. (1996). Political opportunities: Conceptual origins, current problems, future directions. In D. McAdam , J. McCarthy & M. Zald (Eds.), Comparative perspective on social movements. Political opportunities, mobilizing structures, and cultural framings (pp. 23–40). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
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  8. McCarthy, J. D , & Zald, M. (1977). Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82(6), 1212–1241.
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  9. Nielsen, L. B. (2000). Situating legal consciousness: Experiences and attitudes of ordinary citizens about law and street harassment. Law and Society Review, 34(4), 1055–1090.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Saguy, A. (2012). Les conceptions juridiques du harcèlement sexuel en France et aux États-Unis. Avant et après l'affaire DSK. Travail, genre et société, 28(2), 89–106.
     [Google Scholar]

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