Gendered Issues and Political Campaigns: Analysing the Influence of Gender on Candidates’ Twitter Communication During a Spanish General Election

Spanish women finally surpassed the 40% threshold of political representation in 2008. Yet, despite this progress, they continue to face unequal media visibility and have increasingly turned to social media to enhance their public presence. Although research shows that women are as active as men online, men’s posts tend to have greater reach and influence, revealing persistent gender disparities. This article examines how these differences manifest in the X (formerly Twitter) communication of the leading male (first-position) and female (second-position) candidates from the five parties with the largest parliamentary representation during Spain’s November 2019 general election. This election was historically significant as feminism featured prominently in the campaign agenda. Paradoxically, however, all five parties selected men as their first-position candidates and women as their seconds, thereby reproducing traditional gender hierarchies within an explicitly feminist context. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study analyses candidates’ presence and thematic focus during the campaign’s second and final week, the period of highest communicative intensity. The quantitative results revealed a significant gender imbalance, with female candidates contributing only one-fourth of the total activity. While male candidates primarily generated content, female candidates mostly shared posts from their male counterparts. Female candidates thus played a secondary role, mainly supporting male candidates’ tweets and occasionally addressing issues concerning women as a group. By adhering to topics already addressed by male candidates, these female candidates may have aimed to avoid criticism for stepping outside conventional roles, thereby illustrating the constraints imposed by the double bind. The study highlights the persistent prioritisation of male politicians’ messages in political discourse and suggests that female candidates’ reduced activity may stem from gender constraints.