Pornification of politics: How sexualized discourses threaten democracy
Source: Colorado State
The sexualization of women in the political sphere has taken on a new and dangerous form that threatens democracy itself, a CSU professor argues.
For 25 years, Karrin Vasby Anderson, Colorado State University professor of communication studies, has researched gender and politics, focusing on how women politicians are framed in news coverage, political ads, internet memes and pop culture.
“I kept running into this very strange sexualization of political candidates, a very extreme sexualization,” Vasby Anderson said. “Then I noticed that it wasn’t just candidates who are being framed in overtly sexualized ways. It was also women voters as a group.”
This phenomenon, which Vasby Anderson calls the “pornification frame,” represents a backlash against women’s political progress in the United States by linking female candidates, politicians and voters to pornographic imagery and themes. It undermines their capacity for leadership and diminishes their credibility as a voting bloc, ultimately eroding the quality of democracy itself, she said.
The sexualization of women in the political sphere has taken on a new and dangerous form that threatens democracy itself, a CSU professor argues.
For 25 years, Karrin Vasby Anderson, Colorado State University professor of communication studies, has researched gender and politics, focusing on how women politicians are framed in news coverage, political ads, internet memes and pop culture.
“I kept running into this very strange sexualization of political candidates, a very extreme sexualization,” Vasby Anderson said. “Then I noticed that it wasn’t just candidates who are being framed in overtly sexualized ways. It was also women voters as a group.”
This phenomenon, which Vasby Anderson calls the “pornification frame,” represents a backlash against women’s political progress in the United States by linking female candidates, politicians and voters to pornographic imagery and themes. It undermines their capacity for leadership and diminishes their credibility as a voting bloc, ultimately eroding the quality of democracy itself, she said.