Where Are The Women? Reproductive Politics and Digital Media in the 2012 US Presidential Election

Social media have been seen as the solution to the crisis of democracy, as giving a voice to traditionally marginalised groups and as facilitating horizontal as well as vertical political communication. What role gender plays at the intersection between political communication and social media is though still largely understudied. This paper analyses how US women official used Twitter as a tool for political communication during the 2012 presidential election. In particular, it evaluates the extent to which they were able to adopt a gendered rhetoric to address their constituents. The paper explores whether social media provides a space for female candidates to gender their political language. It further asks whether gendering political communication through social media can be seen as an attempt to represent voters in symbolic as well as descriptive ways. Ultimately this paper evaluates whether social media make political strategies and communications more democratic.