SHE IS A WOMAN, SHE IS PREGNANT... SHE IS THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE.A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MEDIA REPRESENTATION OF THE FIRST FEMALE DEFENSE MINISTER IN SPANISH HISTORY

Abstract

Studies examining newspaper coverage of politics have found female politicians to be disadvantaged as compared with their male counterparts, as women tend to attract lower overall attention and to receive less substantive coverage than men. Yet little systematic analysis has been devoted to the coverage of ministers of the same portfolio in different government cabinets. This paper explores the media treatment of three Spanish Defense ministers: the first female Spanish Defense minister, Carme Chacón, the former minister of Defense, José Bono (also a member of the Socialist government), and her successor, Pedro Morenés (from the Conservative People’s Party).