This clip aired on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on April 22, 2014 and was part of an episode that focused on media depictions of women in politics. The clip features Stewart’s commentary on widespread perceptions of women as being too emotional to be effective politicians. Stewart uses satire to contest this claim, contrasting news clips of highly emotional men with everyday news critiques of women politicians.

discussion

What is Jon Stewart’s main argument about the  news coverage of female and male politicians?

How does Stewart’s tone of voice, facial expressions,  word choices help to convey his argument?

How would you compare Jon Stewart’s commentary on men and women’s emotional control with the clips he shows? How would you contrast them?

What conclusions can you draw about how portraying women as emotional and weak and men as rational and strong has influenced politics?

In what other professions are men and women portrayed differently? How do these professions compare to what Jon Stewart showed in 2014 about perceptions of men and women’s emotions in politics?