Heather Schwedel, Slate – October 27, 2016
Linguistic analysis reveals that Trump uses tentative language, emotion-laden words, fewer long words, and fewer prepositions and articles, all characteristics that are strongly associated with women, a category of people Trump frequently dismisses and degrades.
Katy Steinmetz, Motto – August 23, 2016
During this election, pundits have often tangled over just how much attention should be paid to Hillary Clinton’s gender, as she forges on in her pursuit of the Oval Office. We don’t, after all, go around referring to George Washington as the first man president or wondering how Obama’s maleness might play into china-pattern selections at the White House. But this is a first. There are moments that call for acknowledging the fact that she is a she, as no presidential nominee for a major party has been before. And just as interesting is the question of what words to use when those moments do arise.
Tim Hains, Real Clear Politics – August 7, 2016
During ABC’s ‘This Week’ roundtable, panelist Cokie Roberts quips that when Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton is ‘unfit’ to be president or ‘unhinged,’ he is really issuing a sexist dogwhistle which “is totally code for we shouldn’t elect a woman. That is exactly what that is.”
Meredith Conroy, Washington Post – July 27, 2016
On Tuesday, delegates at the Democratic National Convention officially made Hillary Clinton the first woman nominated by a major party for the U.S. presidency. But with or without a female candidate, the race for the presidency has always been gendered, as my research shows — often in ways that are explicitly unfriendly to women. And the language we use to talk about who is fit for the presidency is language that hurts women.
Jasmine Taylor-Coleman, BBC – June 29, 2016
Donald Trump fans have been condemned for calling her one, while some of her supporters have urged her to be more of one. So why is Hillary Clinton so often associated with the word “bitch” – and how offensive is it?
Claire Cain Miller, New York Times – March 14, 2016
Hillary Clinton, no surprise, sounds the most feminine of the candidates on the campaign trail, commonly using phrases like “incredibly grateful” and “open our hearts.” More surprising, the second-most feminine-sounding speaker is Donald Trump, who often talks about “my beautiful family” and “lasting relationships.”
Katy Waldman, Slate – February 18, 2016
As Robin Lakoff, professor of linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, points out, accentuating femaleness in an artist or politician ‘suggests that a woman holding that position is marked—in some way unnatural, and that it is natural for men to hold it.’
The Economist – November 6, 2015
Many people find the phrase “female president” annoying. But oddly enough, many others find “woman president” to be a problem, too. The problem is not that these expressions are ungrammatical, as Johnson explained in his past column. Yet both have their critics. Why?