Aesthetics of Gendered Power: How Fashion, Taste and Gesture Reinforce and Challenge the Masculinism of Political Power in Televisual Narratives

How are popular streaming and television series shaping the global public’s notions of political power, particularly with regard to gender? We know that popular culture helps to create, reinforce, and challenge what citizens know about policy, leadership, and issues. Images onscreen consciously and subconsciously shape what people see as normal and desirable in offscreen politics and governance. By examining portrayals of women in powerful political roles (such as diplomats, legislators, President of the United States) in recent popular culture (The Diplomat, The Crown, Hostage, House of Cards, Madame Secretary/President, Veep, etc.), we analyze how masculinist assumptions of political space and political power are challenged or reinforced. This paper pays particular attention not just to textual elements such as plotlines and dialogue, but to aesthetics and visual images (fashion, taste, body language, camera work and positioning, point of view, gesture) in conceptualizing power and its gendered implications.