Women in the 113th Senate cultivating the appearance of bipartisanship

ABSTRACT High-profile examples of the Senate women’s cross-party collaboration, such as the 2013 government shutdown, contribute to the perception that women policymakers are bipartisan. Print, digital, and broadcast journalism serve as units of observation for understanding how the women senators cultivated a shared political image imbued with conventionally-defined “feminine” leadership qualities that linked to bipartisanship. Drawing on their mediated perspectives, I argue that the women of the 113th Senate’s portrayal of feminine leadership traits contributed to the conventional wisdom that women are bipartisan. My analysis indicates that, during a time of rancorous partisanship, the women senators’ public discussion of a sisterhood, a supper club, and communication norms advanced the appearance of being a united force while seeking policy goals in a partisan chamber. By analyzing mediated texts that featured the women in the 113th Senate, I demonstrate how women policymakers collectively depict a legislative style that can become a tool for harnessing power in numbers and maximizing political influence as women while navigating a gendered and partisan space. The contributing factors discussed serve as an entry point for critical inquiry into bipartisan image construction.