‘Frontrunners’: An Investigation of the Discursive Construction of ‘Women Politicians’ Intersectional Identity

Abstract

This paper explores how female politicians discursively construct their intersectional identity as “women politicians.” We interviewed 10 female politicians in charge of local political offices and examined how they talked about the boundaries and contents of their “women politicians” identity. When talking about identity boundaries, the interviewees first presented “women politicians” as an exclusive minority within their gender group. Second, they constructed intergroup categorizations by comparing women who meet the requirements to enter politics versus women who do not. When talking about identity contents, the interviewees constructed intergroup categorizations along the ideological axis only. Thus, they overlooked the differences between men and women who share the same ideology while they enhanced the differences among women of different ideologies. Overall, the interviewees constructed their “women politicians” identity as a subordinate identity within their overarching ideological identity rather than as a real intersectional identity. These results are discussed also in terms of discursive de-politicization of the “women politicians” intersectional identity.