Enemy number one or gay clown? The Russian president, masculinity and populism in US media

Abstract

In this article I analyze the recurring representations of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in US liberal online news media and in political comedy 2013–2019. I take a closer look at these representations in terms of their types, political aims and effects, using critical image and discourse analysis. Arguably, the depictions of Putin focus on his masculinity, thereby rendering the Russian president Other, as backwards, undemocratic, and as a threat to the US. Such imagery is utilized to create a contrast to the US that, in turn, appears as a united, modern and progressive nation. Images of Putin are also frequently used to criticize US president Donald Trump and his populism, which suggest that he is a puppet of Russia. I argue that the media’s focus on Putin, and specifically on his masculinity in criticizing the US president and his politics, however, exaggerates the threat ‘of Russia’ and thus not only runs the risk of affirming a hierarchical binary gender model of power, but also of participating in a tacit populism. Lastly, and paradoxically, many of these images rely on anti-gay sentiments in the name of western values and liberal democracy to make assessments of the political relationship between the US and Russia.