Women Entering the Presidential Arena. Running a Campaign on Social Media

Feminists criticize how media represent women politicians because it either eliminates women symbolically (more women than men are presented in media) or it stereotypically frames women when “journalists systematically and routinely focus on women’s sex and gender – emphasizing less what they do and more what they look like” (Childs, 2008, p. 141). Women’s presence in politics “might not be normalized but, rather, rendered suspect and ‘other’ through gendered media representations”, further underlines Childs. Representations of women focusing on appearance, clothing are far from supporting women as suitable for politics. If in traditional media, journalists create gendered spaces in politics, in new media it is actors themselves who may participate in creating gendered spaces in politics, it is candidates and politicians who assume or resist traditional gender representation. Worldwide, less women engage as candidates in presidential elections. The 2014 year marked a difference in national elections as two women ( the president of a political party and an independent politician)are candidates for the Romanian Presidency. Gelber (2011) emphasized that “theoretically, social media should be an asset for women politicians” (Gelber, 2011, p.14) The recent study "Women in decision-making: The role of the new media for increased political participation" (2013) focusing on European politics noticed “social media may connect women politicians with voters when mainstream media tends to neglect them” and at the same time “new media may provide a challenge to old media representations of women in politics. (p. 22) This study explores how the usage of social media in the electoral campaign supports or resists representation of conventional stereotypes of femininity and politics (such as the public man/private woman) and the focus on women’s appearance, whether women candidates have addressed substantive representation of women and tried to mobilize the support of women voters through specific targeted messages.