The role of gender in the evaluation of politicians in an online debate

This study contributes to the field of research into discursive representations of female versus male politicians by applying Appraisal theory to a natural experiment provided by the publication of two almost identical newspaper articles, where the source of the information was either a female or male political leader. The investigation focuses on the readers’ comments, and reveals that they tend to attribute less agency to the female leader, and to rarely address her using, on the one hand, positive, and on the other hand, abusive language. This is in contrast to her male counterpart who is seen as more agentive and receives some praise, but who is also disproportionately targeted for abuse. The findings provide evidence that gender bias against women in politics persists although it may take less conspicuous forms. They also inform studies into perceptions of gender discrimination which might be less sensitive to its subtler manifestations.