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In:Discourse, Politics and Women as Global Leaders
Edited by John Wilson and Diana Boxer
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 63] 2015
► pp. 93–120

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Chapter 4. Twitter as political discourse

The case of Sarah Palin

 | The University of Alabama
Published online: 30 October 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.63.05dav
This study considers how the first female Republican vice-presidential candidate in American politics, Sarah Palin, draws on stereotypes of gendered language in crafting her persona within the limitations of the Twitter platform of 140 characters. Her use of a more informal and vernacular style associated her symbolically not only with a populist message but also with the covert prestige linked to working class male speech. Palin, brought from relative obscurity as governor of Alaska, embodied a compelling combination of beauty-pageant appearance and traditional female roles of wife and mother with a brash and informal speaking style more usually associated with men. This study examines how her distinctive spoken style and political stance are translated into written tweets.
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Cameron, Deborah & Sylvia Shaw
2020. Constructing women’s “different voice”. Journal of Language and Politics 19:1 ► pp. 144 ff. DOI logo

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