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Panel 2: Imaginations of Female Presidency in TV Series 

In real life, women hardly ever become presidents of states. One of the reasons is the historical link between ideas of political representation and masculinity that has prevailed since the Early Modern Period. Yet, quite a few women have come close to the highest political office, and female presidents as state leaders have become part of nations’ cultural and fictional imagination ever since the late twentieth century. In TV series produced in the United States, in France, and in the United Kingdom, different types of female presidents have been created, and narratives around possible problems related to their specific situation as women in power have been developed. The aim of the panel is to analyze and discuss these women’s media representations with regard to social and political phenomena, discourses on gender, and images of femininity and power that these fictional productions deploy.