Den nye mannen i svensk politik. En diskursanalys av Dagens Nyheters representation av Fredrik Reinfeldt, Thomas Bodström och Jimmie Åkesson.

Abstract

The ‘New Man’ in Swedish Politics. A Discourse Analysis of the Representation of Fredrik Reinfeldt, Thomas Bodström and Jimmie Åkesson in Dagens Nyheter

The purpose of this article is to examine and compare the construction of a supposed new masculinity ideal, “the new man”, in relation to political leadership, and to interpret how the gender norms there within affect the credibility as a politician. The study extends to the reporting from 2010 in the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter about three Swedish male elite politicians with various party affiliation and ideologies. Our findings shows that flexibility is a prominent new-man-marker, that the relationship between flexibility and credibility as a male politician is complex and that in a Swedish/Nordic context the new man is constructed as gender equal. One conclusion is that some male politicians benefit more than others – who may be pushing the boundaries (too far) for what may be considered as masculine – from being positioned within the discourse of the new man.