Full Description
Examining how gender impacts political sex scandals in the United States, this book explains how political sex scandals contribute to the mistrust of government and identifies why these events have serious consequences for our political system.
The increasing tabloidization of politics and focus on politicians involved in sex scandals is both problematic and important. When a major political sex scandal occurs, it occupies as much as 25 percent of all news coverage in the United States. Even if people may deny it, they enjoy "consuming" and talking about political sex scandals. Written by a former journalist who has frequently explored the intersections of politics, sex, and gender in the United States, Sex Scandals, Gender, and Power in Contemporary American Politics investigates how political sex scandals contribute to the mistrust of government and why these events have great significance in our frenzied media environment.
The book makes use of comprehensive descriptive data (including statistics) to explain how political sex scandals are a representation of society's broader gender dynamics, conveying subtle messages about power and morality. It addresses the roles of men and women in political sex scandals over time, the increasing tabloidization of politics, and the often-overlooked consequences of sex scandals for the political system. Author Hinda Mandell also documents how scandals' multiple negative effects for the politicians themselves and for society include turning politics into a spectator sport, contributing to the mistrust of government, the questioning of politicians' competence and judgment as a group, and politicians' diminishing effectiveness in office.
Contents
Series Foreword
Acknowledgments
1 Political Sex Scandals: How and Why Gender Matters
2 A Brief History of Political Sex Scandals
3 What a Joke: Philandering Politicians Get the Cartoon Treatment
4 When Mistresses Become Media Starlets: The Ascension of the Political Sex-Scandal Celebrity
5 Political Wives, Scandal, and the Double Bind: Press Coverage through a Gendered Lens
6 Have I Got a Story for You: State Lawmakers Confront Scandal in the New York Assembly
7 "How Can People Be So Dumb and Still Be in Politics?" Public Response to Prominent Scandals
8 In Sickness and Scandal: Married Couples Navigate Scandal in the News
9 Concluding Thoughts: Scandal and Gender in the 21st Century
Appendix A: Scandal-Defining Variables for Scandal Compilation
Appendix B: Guiding Questions for Textual Analysis of Printed Text
Appendix C: Interview Protocol for Married Couples
Notes
Index
