Introduction
In 2015, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, a candidate of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, HDZ), made history by becoming the first woman president of Croatia. However, throughout her campaign and even after taking office, she faced numerous gendered comments and coarse treatment from the media.4 Criticism from the media only intensified during and after the 2018 FIFA World Cup, when Grabar-Kitarović travelled to Russia to support the Croatian team. Despite gaining international attention for her spontaneous behaviour, including hugging players and braving heavy rain during the finals, the Croatian media dubbed her a »serial hugger« and scorned her »excessive« behaviour.5
This study builds on existing research on gendered reporting6 , celebrity politics,7 and online discrimination of women politicians8 to examine reactions of both the media and their audiences to Grabar-Kitarović's unconventional performances. The theoretical section of the study begins by using Carlin and Winfrey's9 seminal typology to detail common gendered stereotypes in reporting on women politicians. It then delves into the challenges posed by emotions, femininity, and celebrity politics for women politicians and explores how these challenges manifest in the digital environment.
The empirical part of the paper aims to determine the presence, type, and amount of discriminatory content in Facebook posts pertaining to Grabar-Kitarović on the Facebook pages of three leading Croatian news sites: 24sata.hr, Jutarnji.hr and Index.hr. It also seeks to investigate the presence, type and amount of discriminatory content in readers’ reactions to the analyzed posts. The research is focused on two paradigmatic events: 1) Grabar-Kitarović’s actions at 2018 World Cup in Russia and 2) a video of Grabar-Kitarović reading Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking to Croatian children in Sweden. In both cases, Grabar-Kitarović stepped into the complex terrain of emotions and celebrity politics10 , resulting in strident public reaction. This study examines the responses of both the online media and their audiences to behaviors that are considered to be particularly risky for women politicians and identifies similarities and differences between gendered discourses in the media and their audiences.
1. Literature review
Stereotypes and misogyny have plagued women in professional spaces throughout history. Despite the election of women leaders around the world, women politicians have still faced significant gender-based scrutiny from the media and the public. This is largely due to power-seeking being viewed as incongruent with traditional gender roles: »In cultures that are patriarchal, gender is fundamental to cultural rules«.11 Consequently, when this norm is disturbed, reactions are often negative and unpleasant.
Cultural stereotypes depict women as being communal in nature. Women are often portrayed as sensitive, warm, caring, concerned about others, and competent on »compassion issues«12 . Therefore, their pursuit of power may be seen as a violation of »prescribed communal expectations«.13 Also, »gender roles come with descriptive and prescriptive norms that disadvantage women when it comes to leadership«.14
Acknowledging that the contemporary political environment is still biased towards men, although less so than in previous decades15 political communication research on gender is mainly concerned with three main questions: how candidates adopt gender-based strategies and with what success, to what extent and in what ways is electoral and overall, news media reporting about women politicians gendered, and finally, how sexist stereotypes and gender cues affect voters’ decisions.16
In this paper, our focus is mainly on the gendered practices of the media which, whether consciously or not, often work to discredit, and belittle women candidates.17Although the list of gender narratives in politics is long and continuously expanding, the most prevalent narratives may be boiled down to the following: women candidates are often covered in relation to ‘soft’ issues, such as education, family and social issues; they are referenced more often in relation to their families than men; they are often portrayed as emotional and weak, and they are much more likely to be described in terms of their physical attributes than men.18 Carlin and Winfrey’s19 work is especially noteworthy in this regard, as they successfully applied Kanter’s20 categorization of the most common stereotypes for professional women – a »sex object«, a »mother«, a »pet« and an »iron maiden« – to the realm of politics.
The »sex object« stereotype includes a range of gendered practices, from sex roles-framing to objectification and sexual harassment. Objectification, as one of the most prevalent frames used in media coverage of high-profile women politicians, reduces them to their physical characteristics, denies them credibility and may result in them being seen as less competent in their professional roles.21 The pervasive and offensive objectification may work as an instrument of »symbolic degradation«.22
The »mother« stereotype frames women as »caring and understanding«, but also as emotional and weak. It also raises doubts about their ability to carry out political duties while taking care of their families23 . Van Zoonen highlights the double standards that exist in the media representation of politicians and their families.24 For men politicians, their families are an opportunity to demonstrate their »reliability and integrity« while for women politicians, their families are a reminder of their unconventional choice, which implies a constant tension between their private and professional lives.25 Another aspect of the »mother« stereotype heavily leans on »gender-emotion stereotypes«26 , which assumes that women are more emotional than men and therefore unfit for political leadership. This means that women are not only perceived as more sensitive but also as having difficulties restraining their emotions, leading people to think that they are »less able to control the extent to which their emotions influence their thoughts and behaviors«.27 On the other hand, being perceived as cold is also problematic for women politicians because »unemotional women are seen as failing to fulfill their warm, communal role as women«28 and are consequently framed as »iron maidens«.29 This is identified as the »minefields« that women leaders need to navigate – they need to decide what amount and what kind of emotions are »appropriate« to display.30
Finally, the »pet« stereotype undermines women by portraying them as »helpless« and »naïve«31 or even infantile.32 It suggests that women are reliant on men and need their help to succeed. Consequently, in politics, which is largely men-dominated, the only unproblematic role for women would be the one of a support, either as a female colleague to a male leader or as a wife to a politician-husband.33
Celebritization, digitalization and women politicians
Navigating the political arena and avoiding gender minefields has become even more complicated for women candidates with the increased celebritization of politics, which encourages the influx of popular and private cues into the political arena.34 The phenomenon of »celebritization« of politics, commonly referred to as »celebrity politics« occurs predominantly through two avenues: either celebrities transition into the political sphere by assuming political office, or elected politicians adopt the characteristic mannerisms often associated with celebrities.
The increasingly frequent connection of politicians with the world of entertainment and celebrities can be seen as an attempt by these politicians to establish a stronger connection with citizens by borrowing »from the relationship of trust and admiration that is associated with figures in popular culture«.35
Celebrity politics places a greater focus on affection, style, and appearance.36 Unlike their men counterparts, who frequently adopt a political pop star image, women politicians tend to steer clear of celebrity politics exactly because of its inherent focus on appearance, emotions and personal traits, which for women, is a potential source of trouble.37 As van Zoonen argues, »the prominent attention given to the private persona and family life of female politicians runs the risk of attracting attention to their nonstandard gender choices«.38
The challenges of navigating the celebritized political arena have grown even bigger with the rise of digital media. Some studies indicate that the »informalization« and »humanization« of politics promoted by social media could be advantageous for women politicians.39 It is argued that the online environment might even turn sexism into a double-edged sword, leading to unexpected support through homophily.40 However, this positive outlook is countered by mounting evidence showing that women politicians are increasingly subjected to online misogyny and hate. The expansion of the internet has facilitated the rapid and widespread dissemination of misogyny and sexism41, fueled by the anonymity it offers to harassers.42 Internet provides futile ground for the spread of »semiotic violence« which is perpetrated through »degrading images and sexist language«, with sexual objectification being a prominent form of this type of violence.43 For instance, a research conducted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2018) among MPs and female parliamentary staff in 45 European countries revealed that 58.2% of them suffered online violence.
In the following chapters, we provide an overview of gender stereotyping of the first Croatian women president, Grabar-Kitarović, and examine online discrimination against her on the Facebook pages of leading Croatian digital news media and in the comments of their readers.
Croatia operates under a parliamentary system where the prime minister holds greater powers than the president, whose role is mostly ceremonial. However, the president does have certain authorities, particularly in the areas of foreign policy and defense. Additionally, the president holds significant symbolic influence. The president is directly elected to serve a five-year term through a majority-runoff system.
Since gaining independence, Croatia has been interchangeably governed by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the leftist Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska partija, SDP). In 2015, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was elected as the HDZ candidate in a tight run-off against SDP’ incumbent, President Ivo Josipović. At the time of the election, the SDP held power with Zoran Milanović serving as the Prime Minister. Before becoming the first woman president of Croatia, Grabar-Kitarović had an international political career, serving as the Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy at NATO.
Grabar-Kitarović was not the first woman to hold a leading position in the country. In 2009, HDZ's Jadranka Kosor became the Prime Minister of Croatia after her predecessor Ivo Sanader resigned and was subsequently arrested for corruption. As the first woman to govern the country, Kosor faced sexist media coverage and trivialization of her role in the public discourse.44
The heavily gendered media coverage of the 2014-2015 election suggested that Grabar-Kitarović would also face challenges. From the moment she announced her candidacy, Grabar-Kitarović was commonly evaluated based on her appearance, and her competence was repeatedly questioned. Furthermore, she had to justify her husband's decision to look after their children while she pursued her professional career, a decision that some deemed »strange«45 . In headlines, she was often referred to simply as »Kolinda«, while her male opponents were mentioned by their title or last name. The ombudsperson for gender equality released an Analysis of Sexism and Sexual Stereotypes in the 2014-2015 Presidential Campaign46 , which argued that such practice of addressing politicians on a first name basis is an expression of »patronizing familiarization«, which is commonly used with those who are not considered equals. The ombudsperson's analysis also details sexist remarks made by the incumbent Ivo Josipović, such as »She is cute, right?« and by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, who called Grabar-Kitarović an »apparatchik«, »a mascot«, and »a prima ballerina«.47
The media treatment of Grabar-Kitarović remained sexist even after she assumed office. The analysis of the headlines of five prominent Croatian news sites during the first month of her presidency has shown that all outlets routinely referred to her by her first name.48 This practice was mainly intended to undermine her authority. Furthermore, the same study established that the media trivialized her role by focusing on her encounters with show-business personalities, deliberately omitting information about her presidential activities, and adopting a tabloid-like reporting style.
The reports about Grabar-Kitarović routinely objectified her, with articles frequently discussing her clothes and weight.49 Grabar-Kitarović was often portrayed as emotionally unstable, irrational, euphoric, or »hysterical«50 The media frequently constructed her as »a mother«, specifically »mother of the nation« or »the queen of Croatia«.51
The media treatment of Grabar-Kitarović became increasingly unpleasant during and after the 2018 FIFA World Cup, when she traveled to Russia to support the Croatian team. Dressed in the national team kit, she enthusiastically cheered, jumped, and danced. In the finals, when Croatia lost to France, images of Grabar-Kitarović soaking in heavy rain and hugging everyone – from players to the trophy – circulated the globe. The world witnessed a public demonstration of affection and emotions rarely displayed by a politician. Her performance secured impressive international attention, to the extent that after the finals, Grabar-Kitarović received more media coverage than any player from the Croatian national team, including the best player of the championship, Luka Modrić.52
Mediatoolkit53 (2018) reported that 80% of social media posts about her after the finals were flattering. »The Croatian president is coming out of this as the winner. Football shirt, rain, crying, hair ruined, doesn't give a damn«, one comment said.54 The reporting by British and US news sites about Grabar-Kitarović during the World Cup was predominantly neutral or positive.55 For instance, The Guardian declared: »Croatia's real World Cup star? The President in the stands«.56 Her spontaneity earned her the title of »queen of hearts« in much of the world's media and social media. However, much of the Croatian media were exceptionally critical, calling her behavior »shameful« and unworthy of the presidential title.57
Interestingly, media criticism did not harm Grabar-Kitarović's public ratings. On the contrary, the percentage of those who approved of her work after the championship sharply increased from 46% to 57%.58 Her approval ratings varied during her presidency, but her popularity started to irreversibly decline towards the end of 2018. She began her mandate with an approval rate of 57% in March 2015 and ended it with 40% in October 2019, when she announced her re-election campaign.59
Grabar-Kitarović's presidential term was characterized by a strong international presence, which was the strongest aspect of her presidency. This stands in contrast to her domestic performance, which was marked by political wandering, an inadequate communication strategy, and futile efforts to please everyone. In the first half of her mandate, she promoted her »modern conservative« agenda, which included some progressive policies that disappointed her orthodox voters.60 In the second half of her term, perhaps trying to regain support from her core electorate, she began to curry favor with the radical right, leading journalists to question her true values and political consistency. The political circumstances surrounding party competition were also challenging. Since HDZ's rise to power in 2015, she had struggled to come to terms with HDZ's Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who did not appreciate her criticism of his government. Plenković himself is a moderate conservative who took over the helm of the party in the aftermath of the 2015 election. He pushed HDZ closer to the center, triggering a revolt among more radical supporters and facilitating the rise of new right-wing options that attracted HDZ's disenchanted voters.61
Grabar-Kitarović ran for re-election on HDZ's ballot. However, some disheartened HDZ voters were hesitant to support her in the runoff against SDP's Zoran Milanović. Milanović eventually won the election, marking the end of Grabar-Kitarović's presidency.
The media coverage of the 2019-2020 presidential race between Zoran Milanović and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was once again characterized by sexist and disrespectful treatment of Grabar-Kitarović. Journalist Snježana Pavić62 wrote:
»Yes, I agree, the President has been perky, so she gave a lot of reasons for criticism, but that is no excuse for such outbursts of contempt, ridicule, mockery, belittling and the most pathetic insults. (…) Yes, yes, freedom of speech, but that does not include public lynching. It does not include an internet s*** storm, and that has been an eternal weather forecast for the last five years. Just about every move of hers was regarded as the ultimate proof of stupidity and kitsch, accompanied by a burst of disgusting insults«.
3. Methodology and research design
The aim of this study is to examine online discrimination towards the first Croatian president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Specifically, it seeks to establish the presence, type, and amount of discriminatory content in posts related to Grabar-Kitarović on the Facebook pages of the three leading Croatian news sites: 24sata.hr, Index.hr, and Jutarnji.hr. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the presence, type, and amount of discriminatory content in readers’ reactions to these posts.63
The research included posts and related comments addressing two events: Grabar-Kitarović’s appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and a video of Grabar-Kitarović reading Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking to Croatian kids in Sweden. The analysis of the 2018 World Cup coverage encompassed two episodes: Grabar-Kitarović’s visits to the locker room of the Croatian national soccer team (on July 1 after the game with Denmark and on July 7 after the game with Russia) and her performance at the finals of the World Cup (on July 15).
The second event was part of a project initiated by a teacher in Sweden to encourage children from the Croatian diaspora to read in Croatian. The reason for selecting these two events for analysis is that they involved Grabar-Kitarović stepping out of her political role and entering the realm of emotions and celebrity politics, which triggered strong public reactions.
To achieve the study's goal, two research questions were asked:
RQ1: What types of discriminatory content, if any, can be identified in the posts related to Grabar-Kitarović on the Facebook pages 24sata, Index.hr, and Jutarnji, and how prominent was it?
RQ2: What types of discriminatory content, if any, can be identified in the comments linked to selected posts on the Facebook pages 24sata, Index.hr, and Jutarnji, and how prominent was it?
The research was based on a selected corpus of Facebook posts and comments because Facebook is the most popular social network in Croatia, and the chosen news sites are the primary sources of online news in the country.64 According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, in 2019, 24sata.hr had the highest weekly share of online news consumption in Croatia (57%), followed by Index.hr with 56% and Jutarnji.hr with 46%.
24sata.hr is an online edition of the bestselling tabloid daily of the same name, Index.hr is an online news site with a reputation for being an independent and progressive outlet, and Jutarnji.hr is an online edition of Jutarnji list, the leading Croatian broadsheet. The audience of Index.hr leans strongly left, Jutarnji list mostly attracts a center-left audience, while 24 sata attracts an audience at the center of the Croatian political spectrum.65
The sample used in this study consisted of two units of analysis: 1) a Facebook post, along with a news article linked to the post, and 2) a Facebook comment. The sample was generated by searching selected Facebook pages using the following keywords in Croatian: Kolinda + locker room (Kolinda + svlačionica), Grabar-Kitarović + locker room (Grabar-Kitarović + svlačionica), Kolinda + the finals + the World Cup (Kolinda + finale + Svjetsko prevenstvo), Grabar-Kitarović + the finals + the World Cup (Grabar Kitarović + finale + Svjetsko prevenstvo), Kolinda + Pippi Longstocking (Kolinda + Pipi Duga Čarapa), and Grabar-Kitarović + Pippi Longstocking (Grabar-Kitarović + Pipi Duga Čarapa). We included 41 posts in the final sample: 10 from 24sata Facebook page, 23 from Index.hr Facebook page, and 8 from Jutarnji Facebook page. For each post, we selected the 50 comments identified by Facebook as the most popular for inclusion in the analysis. Comments solely composed of emojis were excluded from the analysis as they lacked textual content, which was the focus of this study. Ultimately, we analyzed 1,929 comments: 457 from 24sata, 1,101 from Index.hr, and 371 from Jutarnji.
To capture structured data, we used NVivo software, and coding was conducted manually by three trained coders. The agreement between coders across all categories ranged from Cohen’s kappa .670 to 1.00 for posts and from .871 to 1.00 for comments.
The first step in the coding process involved categorization of the overall sentiment of the media content towards Grabar-Kitarović as positive, negative, or neutral. Then, the presence of discriminatory content was coded, specifically focusing on sexist remarks, sexual allusions, insults, and mocking, with binary codes of »yes« or »no«. Additionally, the posts and linked articles were coded for the presence of gendered qualifications, which aimed to capture content that was not intentionally discriminatory but still contained gendered language, such as »queen of Croatia« or »she perfectly matched T-shirt and trousers«. The last two categories focused on naming conventions. The first category referred solely to the text within the post and aimed to determine how Grabar-Kitarović was referred to - by her first name, last name, a title, a combination of these, a personal pronoun (e.g., »she« or »her«), or something else (e.g., a nickname such as »Koli« or »Kokolinda«). The second category used the same codes to analyze the headlines of the articles that were linked in the post. The pilot analysis suggested that the outlets may use less formal naming conventions in the posts than in the articles.
Facebook comments were coded for the overall sentiment towards Grabar-Kitarović (positive, negative, or neutral). Additionally, they were coded for the presence of specific discriminatory content such as sexist remarks, insults, and profanities, which were coded as binary values of »yes« or »no«. Finally, the comments were coded for the presence of gendered qualifications and naming conventions.
The tone of the analyzed media posts (n=41) towards Grabar-Kitarović was overwhelmingly negative (58.5%, compared to 29.3% neutral and 12.2% positive). The highest degree of disapproval was demonstrated by Index.hr with 82.6% of negative posts (17.4% neutral and no positive), while Jutarnji had 50% negative, 25% neutral and 25% positive posts. The majority of posts on 24sata were neutral (60%, compared to 30% positive and 10% negative posts). Table 1 indicates that mocking (ridicule) was the main discriminatory device used in the analyzed posts.
Table 1: The presence of discriminatory content in the posts
Paradigmatic are in this sense examples related to Grabar-Kitarović’s reading of children’s book, such as: »Kolinda sat at her presidential table, opened the book and started reading. When you hear what, you are going to burst out laughing. Kolinda, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!« (Jutarnji.hr, 2018, September 10). Sexist remarks addressing her appearance, excessive emotionality and other factors were present in almost half of the analyzed posts and embedded articles. For instance, »Maybe she overreacted a little bit. She was in a trance, and she forgot that she should maintain her dignity« (24sata.hr, 2018, July 17). Explicit sexual allusions were also quite common, particularly on Index.hr, such as »Wet Kolinda stole the show: she kissed everyone, from Pogba to the World Cup trophy. (…) The serial hugger and fan of young, half-naked and sweaty players could not let The World Cup pass without her contribution« (Index.hr, 2018, July 15).
Insulting remarks were present in almost half of the posts, with Index.hr being the most direct. Headlines such as »Did Kolinda have one drink too many last night?« (Index.hr, 2018, July 16) illustrate this discourse. Gender qualifications, by which we understand content that is based on gender stereotypes but may include remarks that are not discriminatory per se, were present in 61% of the analyzed posts (60% of posts on 24sata.hr, 65% on Index.hr and 50 % on Jutarnji.hr).
The last two categories pertaining to the media content revealed that Grabar-Kitarović was in the posts most often called »Kolinda« (63.4%), followed by »President Kolinda« (14.6%), »President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović« or »President Grabar-Kitarović« (7.3%). The percentage of article headlines that called her »Kolinda« was the same as in the Facebook posts, 63.4%, followed by »President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović« or »President Grabar-Kitarović« (9.8%) and »President« (7.3%).
Our initial assumption that article headlines would be more formal than posts in terms of the name convention was not confirmed, suggesting that the choice of media to call her »Kolinda« cannot be explained by the »informality« of social networks but rather with a discursive tendency to patronize Grabar-Kitarović and deny her respect. The unusual combination »President Kolinda« was found only on Facebook. Vrtič and Car66 argue that this combination was unlikely to be found for any other politician than Grabar-Kitarović, which, they suggest, is further evidence of gendered reporting and the »tabloidization of politics«.67
Overall, the results obtained with content analysis of the Facebook posts show that the coverage of Grabar-Kitarović related to the two selected events was predominantly negative, gendered, sexist, and, in the case of Index.hr, offensive. Interestingly, the content of the only tabloid, 24sata.hr, was the least discriminatory and the most positive towards Grabar-Kitarović. These findings may be partly explained by the ideological leaning of the news sites and their audiences. This assumption is in line with a previous analysis of Jutarnji.hr that showed the news site tended to address a conservative woman politician (Grabar-Kitarović) on a first-name basis while at the same time addressing a fellow liberal politician by her last name.68 Such a practice was aimed at diminishing the authority and political power of the conservative actor.69
The sentiment of the analyzed comments (n=1929) was overall balanced between negative and positive reactions towards Grabar-Kitarović, with 36% of comments being positive, 35.4% being negative, 5.3% being neutral, and 23.3% not relating to Grabar-Kitarović. Comments on Jutarnji Facebook page were mostly negative (44.2% negative, 29.6% positive, 4% neutral, and 22.1% not related to Grabar-Kitarović), while comments on 24sata were mostly positive (45.7% positive, 27.6% negative, 6.1% neutral, and 20.6% not commenting on the President). Finally, comments on Index.hr were generally more positive than the media posts, with 34.1% being positive, 35.65% negative, 5.4% neutral, and 24.9% unrelated.
Table 2 shows that a quarter of all analyzed comments were sexist, while straight-forward insults were sporadically present. Although profane language addressing Grabar-Kitarović was detected in the comments, it was exceptionally rare.
Table 2: The presence of discriminatory content in the analyzed comments
The comments posted on Jutarnji Facebook page were generally the most sexist and offensive, while those on Index.hr page were more appreciative and respectful of the President compared to the journalistic content on Index.hr Facebook page and the news site. Furthermore, some comments were critical and offensive towards Index.hr due to their coverage of Grabar-Kitarović, particularly in relation to The World Cup. One comment on Index.hr stated, »And you are serial haters of the Croatian President. You are already humiliating her by calling her by her first name. Unlike Index, she is an institution« (Comment 3).
Many comments on all three pages demonstrated sympathy and even adoration for the President's behavior. For instance, a comment on Index.hr read, »Unique and original, well done Kolinda!« (Comment 29), while a comment on 24sata.hr stated, »If a man was showing such emotions, it would go unnoticed, but when it comes to women…you overreact! Leave her alone! She did what her heart was telling her to do« (Comment 29).
Sexist and insulting remarks were largely addressing her encounter with the players in the locker room: »Ha-ha, she’ll storm the locker room again, maybe she’ll get lucky this time« (24sata.hr, Comment 35), »This one is like a starlet and not a president of the state« (Index.hr, Comment 28) or »Horny goat who is walking around parading and embarrassing us wherever she can« (24sata.hr, Comment 50). Animal metaphors such »horny goat«, »stinky cow«, »hen«, »chick«, »turtle«, »sheep«, or »mare«, were not rare in the comments. According to Carlin and Winfrey70 , such metaphors are aimed at reducing women's credibility and dehumanizing them.
Other comments discriminated against Grabar-Kitarović on the basis of emotions and intelligence, portraying her as hysterical or stupid. One comment on Jutarnji.hr suggested that she could not control herself (Comment 48), while another on the same page called her a »sneaky actress« and »dumber than anyone else« (Comment 21). Some comments even implied that she was drunk, while a few called for physical violence against her, such as a comment on Index.hr: »Pathetic thing! If I was her husband, I would first slap her for hugging those sweaty, married, half-naked young men« (Comment 8).
Nearly half of the analyzed comments (48.1%) contained gendered qualifications. They appeared in 59.7% of the analyzed comments on 24sata.hr, in 48.5% of comments on Jutarnji, and in 43.1% of comments on Index.hr Facebook page. Gendered qualifications were often used in comments that praised Grabar-Kitarović, such as referring to her as a »women, mother, queen and our president« (Jutarnji, Comment 49) or a »gorgeous, emotional woman« (Jutarnji, Comment 26).
The majority of comments referred to Grabar-Kitarović using personal pronouns, such as »she« or »her« (21.8%). The second most used title was »President« (17.8%), followed by various nicknames (9.8%), including »Koko«, »Koli«, »Kokolinda«, »Kolindica«, and »Cinderella«. The name »Kolinda« was only mentioned in 7.1% of the comments, possibly because the comments were prompted by posts and related articles and did not necessitate explicit mention of a subject. Frequent use of pronouns in the digital discourse may also indicate informality or patronizing familiarization. In contrast, the use of nicknames appears to belittle Grabar-Kitarović.
The analysis of user comments suggests that readers appeared to be more accepting and appreciative of Grabar-Kitarović's display of emotions than the portrayal in examined media. Although sexism and insults were less common in the comments, when they did appear, they tended to be more vulgar and aggressive than in the media posts and reports. Interestingly, commentators on Index.hr displayed less hostility and sexism compared to the overall sentiment of the site. On the other hand, commentators on Jutarnji.hr appeared to be the most hostile towards Grabar-Kitarović, which may be potentially explained by the left-leaning profile of its readers.71 However, comprehensively capturing the reasons behind these audience reactions would necessitate a distinct research methodology and approach.
Conclusion
This study examined the online discrimination faced by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, the first woman president of Croatia, in the context of growing research on online sexism. The study focuses on the Facebook communication of three major Croatian news sites - 24sata.hr, Jutarnji.hr, and Index.hr – and related readers’ comments pertaining to two cases that triggered significant public reaction – Grabar-Kitarović’s appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and an educational video of the President reading Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking. In both examined cases, Grabar-Kitarović ventured beyond the safety of political discourse and into the slippery terrain of emotions, spontaneity, and celebrity politics, which, according to van Zoonen, poses a risk for women politicians.72
The study points to three key findings. Firstly, the content analysis of news coverage of the selected events on Facebook revealed that the leading online media had a predominantly negative stance towards Grabar-Kitarović and her actions. Analysis of the presence and type of discriminatory content in the media posts and related reports indicates that Grabar-Kitarović was subjected to ridicule, sexism, and insults. These findings confirm the assumption articulated by scholars that public display of emotions and celebrity mannerism of women politicians may trigger media chauvinism. Additionally, these findings are consistent with previous research on the sexist treatment of Grabar-Kitarović in Croatian media73 . Another discriminatory media practice established in this study is the popular habit of addressing Grabar-Kitarović by her first name, »Kolinda«, in media posts and reports. Although the ideological leaning of the analyzed outlets may explain the critical tone of the posts and reports, especially on Index.hr and Jutarnji.hr, it does not justify the discriminatory discourse observed in the posts and related news articles.
Secondly, analysis of the readers’ comments reveals that she was the target of sexist discrimination and insults by the readers, although to a lesser extent than in the media posts. However, the discriminatory remarks made by readers were more aggressive and intrusive, with explicit sexual insinuations (e.g., »horny«, »starlet«) and violent comments (e.g., »I would slap her«), indicating the presence of »semiotic violence«. Nevertheless, readers showed greater sympathy for Grabar-Kitarović’s display of emotions and passion than the media. This implies that social media discussions, being informal in nature, may provide a less hostile environment for women to express their femininity, emotions, and private side. The results of the study suggest that institutional sexism and »serial hating« of women politicians may backfire, which is in line with the »homophily thesis« proposed by Jennings and Coker.74 The assumption of the backlash effect is particularly interesting in the context of observed discrepancy between media criticism and favorable public ratings for Grabar-Kitarović during and after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Finally, generic gender stereotypes, such as objectification, emotionality and the use of the »mother« stereotype, were pervasive in both news media posts and comments. Such prominence of gender qualifications in both data sets, including benign ones, suggests that gender stereotypes are deeply entrenched in the Croatian public sphere.
This study aimed to explore instances of online gender discrimination demonstrated by Croatian news media and their audiences. However, it encounters specific limitations. Firstly, the findings would carry more weight if the study encompassed a longer period of media reporting on Grabar-Kitarović. Secondly, a more extensive compilation of media outlets and a larger sample of media posts would provide more nuanced insights into this subject. Thirdly, conducting a comparative analysis involving various women politicians could significantly enhance our comprehension of the gender gap in political communication in Croatia.
Additionally, the study indicated the fact that Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and her strategic communication team were actively reinforcing gender framing. However, this aspect merits more in-depth examination. Future research on this subject should consider these limitations. Furthermore, investigating the »homophily thesis« represents a promising avenue for delving into online gender discrimination in politics, offering a potential direction for forthcoming studies.
Marijana Grbeša75 – Nichola D. Gutgold76 ∗ – Domagoj Bebić77 ∗∗