Masculinity, Media Militarization, and The Daily Show

This is a work-in-progress focusing on the role of gender, especially masculinity, in media representations of world events, and in the militarization that characterizes the current geopolitical arena. This paper begins with an examination of “khaki media,À those media most enthusiastic and supportive of the “war on terror.À Yet in addition to examining the role of masculinity in the media work of more “khakiÀ personalities such as Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, this paper will also examine the work of a key media personality known to be opposed to the Bush administration, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. As feminist research has shown us, the step-by-step process of militarization in which society comes to depend on militaristic ideas as primary means of solving problems occurs in myriad ways and often involves ostensibly “oppositionalÀ forces as well as those most clearly calling for war. The Daily Show has become extremely popular among the lucrative young male demographic in the U.S. and it is therefore worthwhile to better understand how this show and how it constructs its unique brand of masculinity. This paper uses a feminist and postcolonial framework to analyze The Daily Show and assess its role in maintaining or challenging the process of militarization, given the common perception of the show as oppositional to the status quo.

Publisher: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, San Francisco, CA, May 23, 2007
Year of Publication: 2008