Still “A Double Bind” for Women in Politics, Review of the Political Discourse Research

More and more women worldwide are now part of the political arena. However, they are still faced with the double bind theory, which implies a distressful situation in which whatever decision you make, you cannot escape unpleasant results. When women politicians speak in a natural, feminine, lady-like manner, they are not taken seriously and are denied access to power because of their incapability to withstand political pressures. On the other hand, when displaying typical masculine linguistic features, such as expertise, authority and rationality, they are accused of being aggressive or insensitive (Lakoff 1975). Due to the presence of more and more women in political leadership and their ongoing linguistic struggle, many scholars have been interested in feminine discourse in politics. This paper aims at presenting a review of the research on the discourse of female politicians to trace the double bind that women politicians encounter and their linguistic choices in the political realm.