Katharine Wright

Leadership and the media: Gendered framings of Julia Gillard's ‘sexism and misogyny’ speech

This article analyses Australian media portrayals of former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillards ‘sexism and misogyny’ speech to parliament in October 2012. Our analysis reveals that coverage of the speech comprised three principal gendered framings: strategic attack, uncontrolled emotional outpouring and hypocrisy. We argue that these framings demonstrate the role the media plays as a gendered mediator, perpetuating the gender double bind that constrains female political leaders, as they negotiate the demand to demonstrate masculine leadership attributes without tarnishing the feminine qualities expected of them. In this instance, gendered media framings limited the saliency of Gillards speech, curtailed calls for wider introspection on Australian political culture and further disassociated women from political leadership. 本文分析了澳大利亚媒体围绕前总理朱丽娅吉拉德2012年在国会的所做“歧视、憎恶女性”的发言对她所做的描画。对那次讲话的报道主要由三个性别镜框构成。一是战略进攻，二是情绪宣泄，三是伪善。我们认为，这些镜框显示了媒体作为性别化的中介，加固了对女性政治领袖性别上的双重束缚：这些领袖既要展示阳刚的领导作风又要不失社会所期待的一些女性气质。在这个案例中，性别化的媒体报道，将吉拉德讲话狭隘化，妨碍了对澳大利亚政治文化的反思，割裂了女性与政治领导的关系。

Gendering normative power Europe: lessons of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

The European Union is seen to operate at the international level by promoting ideas and values, rather than by exerting military or economic power. As a gender actor, the EU has played a key role in the development of formal equality, which is presented as a foundational principle of European integration. It therefore follows that normative power Europe should seek to promote these values in external affairs. This article interrogates the role of the EU as a normative gender actor in relation to its implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, set out in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and related resolutions. Documentary analysis will be supplemented by a detailed assessment of speeches and public statements about the role of the EU as a gender actor in external affairs. This data will be used to assess whether there is a disjuncture between the dominant narrative about gender equality as a fundamental value of the EU and the actions of the organization. It will also allow us to assess whether gender mainstreaming is a tool for public diplomacy or has made a significant change to the way the external relations agenda is formulated and implemented. Additionally, the article will draw attention to the institutional obstacles to the EU performing a role as a gender actor in external affairs. It identifies a critical tension between framing the WPS resolutions as an extension of the EUs equality on the one hand, and understanding that gender mainstreaming is a mere policy tool in international affairs. In doing so, it highlights how competing institutional demands can ultimately undermine core values (e.g. equality) when they are used instrumentally.

NATO’S adoption of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security: Making the agenda a reality

International security institutions play a pivotal role in the realisation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda through their adoption and implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This article examines NATO’s adoption of UNSCR 1325, drawing upon Cynthia Enloe’s conception of NATO as a ‘teaching machine’ disseminating lessons on gender. In doing so, it finds UNSCR 1325 has been understood to be of ‘added-value’ to the Alliance in two respects: first, to support NATO’s long-established agenda to increase the representation of women in NATO forces; second, as a tool to increase operational effectiveness. I find that NATO’s adoption of UNSCR 1325 emerged as part of a counter discourse. The fact that this counter discourse was put forward by partner states challenges dominant understandings of the direction of policy dissemination within NATO. This case provides salient lessons on the opportunities for – and hindrances to – change through the pursuit of a feminist agenda within an international security institution.

Sticks and stones: Comparing Twitter campaigning strategies in the European Union referendum

Both camps made extensive use of social media during the referendum, both to mobilise existing supporters and to convert new ones. However, the three main groups—Stronger In, Vote Leave and Leave.EU—each took differing strategies within this. Drawing on tweets published by the groups, the article compares the use of different positive and negative frames, as well as the thematic content. While reinforcing other work that shows differentials in focus on specific themes—economics for Stronger In, politics and immigration for the Leave groups—the analysis also highlights the use on both sides of ‘sticks’ (capitalisation on the other side’s errors) and ‘stones’ (new issues and framings that the group brings to the debate). If the latter constituted the pre-game plan, then the former became a substantial part of the practical application during the campaign, a development reinforced by the nature of the medium itself.

Navigating gender, power and perceptions when researching NATO: a conversation

We both carried out our PhD research on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) engagement with the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. While Katharine’s focus was on the alliance’s political structures and public diplomacy and included visits to NATO in 2014, Matt’s research visits took place in 2012 and examined NATO’s military structures and the (re)construction of military masculinities and femininities. What follows is a conversation between us that captures some thoughts and feelings about conducting interviews at NATO headquarters.

Telling NATO’s story of Afghanistan: Gender and the alliance’s digital diplomacy

NATO’s public diplomacy plays an important role in constituting the alliance’s identity in global politics, yet has remained marginal to many scholarly accounts of the alliance. This article considers NATO’s increasing footprint in digital diplomacy and the role of gendered narratives in shaping it. The central point of analysis is NATO’s ‘story of Afghanistan’, told in the web-documentary Return to Hope, which was released to much acclaim in September 2014 to coincide with the drawdown of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan. It finds personal narratives given precedence over historical events, key temporal omissions and the silencing of Afghan women. As such, it provides an important critique of the masculinist protection logic underpinning NATO’s efforts, which has served to instrumentalize (Afghan) women and falls short of expectations given the alliance’s commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.