GENDERED METAPHORS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Keywords:
gender, metaphor, sociolinguistics, political discourseAbstract
Metaphor can be seen as one of the most essential and sufficient tools at politicians disposal, as it is based on the sub-conscious associations of the listener and is used to stir their emotions (Charteris-Black, 2014). Moreover, metaphors are not only used to influence the audience, they also help the linguists to sketch the image of a political leader, depending on what types of metaphors the latter employes. This paper aims to analyse the political discourse of four British Prime Ministers and seeks out to answer the following questions: (1) do politician women reveal the same pattern of choice when employing metaphors as their male counterparts, and (2) are there gender-related differences between the sets of metaphors chosen by male and female politicians. Finally, the paper determines the probable reasons behind the choice of metaphors by female politicians to investigate the increase of masculinity in their speech. The study has shown that most frequently used metaphors in the researched speeches are from the domain of war, health building and journey, which are habitual for a masculine speech (Mio, 1997; Flannery, 2001; Philip, 2009; Friedman, 1987). Interestingly, the reasons behind these choices can be that Britain is a masculine culture (Hofstede, 1991), as well as women in maledriven professions still feel the urge to opt for the masculine speech strategies, in order to avoid the social gender prejudice.
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