All’s Fair in Pandemic and War? A Gendered Analysis of Australian Coverage of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has repeatedly been framed by politicians and the media alike as this generation’s “Great War.” Metaphors are often used in political reportage effective discursive tools to influence persuade readers. War metaphors especially frequently election campaigns, leadership spills, during times of unrest portray politics a brutal competitive (masculine) arena. As such, use militaristic language war describe shared challenges global is unsurprising. Framing can rally citizens appealing their sense national civic duty at moment crisis. Yet such framing problematic it draws on stereotyping cultural myths values associated with war, reinforcing patriarchal understandings bravery service that glorify hegemonic masculinity while excluding women from public sphere. Using feminist critical discourse analysis, article will examine Australian print coverage first six months pandemic, focusing two case studies—the prime minister “frontline” workers—to further understand gender bias mainstream media. We argue that, drawing which emphasizes protective masculinity, reproduce re-enforce societal stereotypes imbalances.