Chapter

Semiotic Violence

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Abstract

Chapter 16 provides an overview of semiotic forms of violence against women in politics. These dynamics involve mobilizing semiotic resources—words, images, and even body language—to injure, discipline, and subjugate women. Unlike other forms of violence against women, these acts are less about attacking particular women directly than about shaping public perceptions about the validity of women’s political participation more broadly. Analyzed inductively, women’s experiences in politics suggest two main modes of semiotic violence: rendering women invisible , attempting to “symbolically annihilate” women in the public sphere, and rendering women incompetent , emphasizing “role incongruity” between being a woman and being a leader. Emerging solutions seek to counteract these dynamics by revising or reversing prevailing semiotic frames, forging new semiotic tools to defend women’s right to participate and create a more inclusive public sphere.

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