Sexism in News Satire Portrayals of the Romanian PM

The final speaker in this ECREA 2018 session is Denise-Adriana Oprea, whose focus is on the representations of the Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă in satirical news sites; this is especially interesting as Romania for the first time has a female PM. She has, however, been accused of being a mere puppet of her party, and this has also been a persistent theme in satirical portrayals.

The project examined these portrayals, in text and visuals, across a number of news satire sites: do these override or reinforce the stereotypical portrayal of female politicians, and are they in line with the underlying critical stance of these satire sites? Women politicians are usually afforded less visibility and personal independence in news reporting, and are often stereotyped, sexualised, and belittled in such coverage; in the era of postmodern, thoroughly mediatised politics, such portrayals can have significant effects on public perception.

The news satire sites focus mainly on the PM’s perceived incompetence and physical appearance; she is portrayed as stupid, reliant on her party leader, and illiterate; and these attributes are related to her speeches, decisions, and actions as head of government, as well as to her everyday life. This reinforces broader gender stereotypes, and continues a gendered gaze towards the Prime Minister; her male counterparts are not critiqued in similar ways.

If political satire aims to critique politics and enact positive change, then such sexist, stereotypical portrayals fail miserably, and in fact hinder the further advancement of female politicians; they render women in politics devoid of any personality and political vision. At the same time, Dăncilă – to the extent that her actual political performance is indeed lacklustre – also presents a genuine challenge for satirists, who must find a way to critique her actions that does not simply rely on lazy and outdated stereotypes.