Media Representations of Gender and Leadership: From a Discourse Perspective

Abstract

This article explores the media representations of gender and leadership by examining the interactional data drawn from the U.S. reality TV show The Apprentice. By taking a discourse perspective, this article looks at the ways in which two project managers ‘do leadership’ as portrayed in the TV show. The analysis shows that both managers draw upon elements of a masculine speech style as well as feminine discourse features for the performance of leadership. However, while the use of ‘mixed’ gendered discourse features by the male manager is portrayed in a positive light in the reality TV show, similar verbal behaviours by the female manager are viewed rather negatively by other contestants. It is suggested that owing to the stereotypical expectations of gender-appropriate behaviours and the traditional association of leadership with masculinity, the female manager may be under more constraints when using ‘mixed’ gendered discursive strategies in ‘doing leadership’, while the male manager may be allowed to use a greater range of acceptable verbal behaviours when enacting the role of a leader.