“Framing female leaders in Italian newspapers: A mixed-method study”

The issue of gender nowadays constitutes one of the most critical strands of cultural studies that deal with deconstructing the dominant contemporary discourses disseminated by the media. Through the representation of gender conveyed by the mainstream media such as the newspapers, common sense tends to reproduce the existing social structure that, because hegemonically masculine, contributes to reinforcing social, cultural, and economic imbalances between men and women. Therefore, it is necessary to explore and analyze the currently dominant views that lay the foundations of public discourse that still appears stereotyped to achieve equal opportunities. In particular, the analyses designed in the present thesis revolve around 6 Italian national newspapers. The final goal is to deeply investigate the perspectives that emerge from the articles when addressing female leaders commonly known by public opinion. Besides, the researcher aims at analyzing the socio-political context by testing the potential relationship between different narratives, linguistic and lexical choices and political leanings, the ratio of women on the editorial board, and the bylines' sex. This choice stems from the necessity to find patterns and propose solutions to improve the quality of public information and ultimately enhance women's representation and visibility.