Examining the Gendered Narratives in News Coverage of Joyce Banda

Abstract

A growing body of literature recognises media narratives’ influence in shaping public perceptions of leadership and governance. Studies suggest that women presidential aspirants are often framed within symbolic constraints, where they are perceived as capable leaders in supportive roles but not as legitimate rulers. This study systematically reviews news coverage of Malawi’s first female president, Joyce Banda, examining how the media differentiates women’s ability to “lead” and their perceived inability to “rule”. Specifically, the study seeks to answer two key questions: How does the media in Malawi frame women’s political leadership in terms of governance and executive power? And what recurring gendered narratives emerge in media portrayals of women seeking the presidency? This investigation employs a content analysis of Malawi24, utilising Framing Theory and Feminist Theory to examine the dominant themes in political reporting. Analysis showed that media coverage reinforces a symbolic barrier to power, portraying women as leaders within limits while positioning men as natural rulers. Various perspectives on women’s legitimacy in executive positions were expressed, with narratives frequently questioning their authority and decision-making capabilities. The findings of this study suggest that gendered media framing constrains women’s political ambitions by reinforcing patriarchal expectations of leadership. Addressing this bias requires greater media accountability and equitable portrayals of women in executive political roles.

1. Introduction

Globally, the media has a significant role in determining popular attitudes toward political leaders. In most cases, the press does not just report politics by simply describing events and policies; it actively positions leaders as either fitting or opposing established cultural conventions. Studies have indicated that female politicians are particularly vulnerable to gendered framing that questions their legitimacy in exercising executive power (Muringa and McCracken 2021). Although women may be hailed as capable in advisory or supportive roles, their ability to “rule” is often precluded by cultural stereotypes embedded in news coverage (Muringa et al. 2024).

These gendered images are particularly prominent in Africa because political representation is extremely unequal (Women’s Political Participation Africa Barometer 2024). The Women’s Political Participation Africa Barometer (2024) observes that, although slow changes have occurred, at this rate gender parity among African parliaments will not be achieved until 2100. Whilst a handful of African nations like Rwanda have the world’s best women’s participation in politics, many like Malawi are forced to navigate structural and cultural obstacles that discourage women’s participation in executive politics (Women’s Political Participation Africa Barometer 2024).

Research points out that women leaders are framed in line with broader patriarchal power relations (Muringa and McCracken 2021). A case in point would be research into African female presidents like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sahle-Work Zewde, and Joyce Banda, and how at the very pinnacle of power women tended to be framed in a way that links their abilities either to householdness, marriageability, or “soft” attributes rather than political savvy (Azanu et al. 2023). In Malawi, Joyce Banda’s presidency continues to be a crucial case for researching these patterns since coverage by the media swung dialectically between recognition of her symbolic status as the nation’s first female leader and her legitimacy for governing.

In addition to Malawi, the trend was also observed in South Africa, in that prospective female heads of state such as Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Lindiwe Sisulu were framed by the press through narratives that the country was “not ready” for a female head of state (Muringa et al. 2024). The trend is reflected in comparative reviews of political reporting by the press that conclude that female heads of state from everywhere in the world undergo symbolic annihilation when their leadership is framed in stereotypes rather than by issues of effective leadership (Ningrum and Aisyah 2022). Such frameworks not only shape popular opinion, but also lend credence to the viewpoint that power and leadership are necessarily male domains.

There has been a marked escalation of scholarship into how the media frames women’s political leadership in Africa and beyond, mirroring wider international debates about gender and power. For example, Azanu et al. (2023) analysed representation of female politicians, and revealed that reporting frequently connected their legitimacy with household and “feminine” competency and not with administrative power. Similarly, Goetz and Hassim (2003) noted that female candidates in African countries face structural obstacles, including resistance from parties and tropes that portray women as symbolic rather than decision-making leaders. In South Africa, Muringa and McCracken (2021) found that South African reporting delegitimised Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma by means of cultural tropes. Muringa et al. (2024) illustrated how coverage of female prospective presidents reinforced the narrative that “South Africa is not ready for a woman president.” In the United States, scholarship reveals that even in Western cultures, African women, such as Banda and Sirleaf, appeared in the press as competent only when framed by marriage or household, thus entrenching stereotypes of feminine or female leadership criteria (Azanu et al. 2023). Nonetheless, much of this scholarship has not effectively analysed the more profound symbolic contradiction: women are applauded as leaders, influence-givers, and mothers, yet not empowered to govern, command, or wield structural power.

Little is known about how media framing in patriarchal societies sustains the idea that “a woman can lead, but not rule,” leaving this critical dimension of women’s executive legitimacy underexplored. This study fills in the gap by moving beyond descriptive accounts of media bias to interrogate the symbolic paradox at the heart of women’s political representation: that while women may be accepted as guides, influencers, and caretakers within families, communities, or organisations, they are systematically denied the authority to govern, command, and exercise ultimate decision-making power. By analysing how the Malawian media framed Joyce Banda’s presidency, this research demonstrates how gendered narratives reinforce patriarchal structures that reserve executive authority for men, thereby limiting women’s legitimacy in the political sphere. The following questions are asked:

• How does the media in Malawi frame Joyce Banda’s political leadership about governance and executive power?
• What recurring gendered narratives emerge in media portrayals of Joyce Banda seeking the presidency?

Joyce Banda’s politics makes her an unparalleled case for studying gendered media framing at the executive level. A former vice-president of Malawi (2009–2012) for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and subsequently the nation’s first female president (2012–2014) following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, Banda became president through the removal of a democratically elected head of state. Responding to internal party conflicts, she founded the People’s Party (PP) in 2011 and later became the PP’s presidential candidate in the 2014 general elections, although she was not elected. Banda remains active in politics and announced her bid for the presidency in the 2025 general elections, running under the People’s Party. Due to her status as a pioneering female figure in executive politics, with multiple electoral bids and control over her own party, her case offers a unique opportunity to examine how media discourse reinforces the paradox that women are welcomed into politics as guides or nurturers, yet are not granted full legitimacy to lead.

Following the introduction, the paper employs the feminist media theory to demonstrate how the media perpetuates patriarchal narratives about women in politics. The literature review highlights studies from Malawi, Africa, and beyond, exposing research gaps. Using framing theory, the paper explains how the media constructs women as able to “lead” but not “rule.” The methods outline a content analysis of Malawi24, while the findings present key themes (see Appendix B,

Table A2. Media Frames of Joyce Banda’s Leadership and Gendered Narratives (2014–2025).

Frame	Description (Framing Theory Lens)	Exemplar Quote	News Article Title
Competence & Executive Leadership (RQ1)	Media frequently questions Banda’s executive ability, often framing her promises and initiatives as incomplete or aspirational, suggesting she lacks the same “capacity” attributed to male rivals. Framing theory shows how competence frames measure women leaders against masculine norms of “strength” and decisiveness.	“It is possible: Joyce Banda’s People’s Party manifesto links Malawi2063 vision”—portraying her as visionary, yet framing her promises as unrealistic.	‘It is possible’: Joyce Banda’s People’s Party Manifesto links Malawi2063 vision
		“Joyce Banda promises to elevate chiefs”—framing her leadership in terms of traditional authority rather than transformative governance.	Joyce Banda promises to elevate chiefs
Governance & Corruption (RQ1)	Banda’s presidency is strongly framed through the “Cashgate” scandal, overshadowing policy or reform initiatives. Media deploys corruption frames to undermine her governance and executive authority, aligning with feminist media critiques of how scandals disproportionately delegitimise women leaders.	“Joyce Banda’s PP main beneficiary of Cashgate—convict”—directly tying her presidency to corruption and loss of legitimacy.	Joyce Banda’s PP main beneficiary of Cashgate—convict
		“Joyce Banda wanted to use Cashgate to win elections in 2014”—depicting governance as self-serving rather than reformist.	Joyce Banda wanted to use Cashgate to win elections in 2014
Legitimacy & Political Vulnerability (RQ1)	Coverage frames Banda’s authority as precarious, often defined by rivalry with male figures. Her legitimacy is positioned as conditional and fragile, reflecting patriarchal assumptions that women’s authority requires constant validation.	“Joyce Banda only fears Mutharika’s evil schemes—PP”—framing her legitimacy in relation to a male rival’s power.	Joyce Banda only fears Mutharika’s evil schemes—PP
		“Joyce Banda’s powers put to test”—situating her authority as constantly contested, fragile, and temporary.	Joyce Banda’s powers put to test
Maternal & Symbolic Leadership (RQ2)	Banda is framed as a “mother of the nation,” celebrated for her nurturing and charitable acts rather than her executive policies. This aligns with symbolic maternal frames identified in feminist media theory, which elevate women leaders as cultural figures but diminish their political authority.	“Joyce Banda meets child who dressed as her”—framing her as symbolic inspiration rather than a governance actor.	Joyce Banda meets child who dressed as her
		“Joyce Banda Foundation reaches out to 6000 children in nursery schools”—reinforcing her maternal image through philanthropy.	Joyce Banda Foundation reaches out to 6000 children in nursery schools
Gendered Attacks & Contradictions (RQ2)	Media simultaneously celebrates Banda as a pioneer yet delegitimises her with gendered insults, portraying her as unstable, incompetent, or destructive. This contradiction reflects feminist critiques of the “double bind,” where women leaders are judged as either too soft or too threatening.	“Joyce Banda will lead PP to its decline—Analyst”—linking her leadership to emotional instability and party collapse.	Joyce Banda will lead PP to its decline—Analyst
		“Joyce Banda is ‘brainless’—PP supporters”—direct gendered attack that trivialises her intellect and authority.	Joyce Banda is ‘brainless’—PP supporters
Pioneer & Symbol of Women’s Political Advancement (RQ2)	Despite negative portrayals, some coverage frames Banda as a trailblazer for women in politics, positioning her candidacy as historically symbolic. This reflects feminist democratic representation theory, where women leaders are valorised as milestones even as their authority is undermined.	“Joyce Banda: Another reckoning force in the 2025 presidential race”—framing her as a symbolic contender reshaping women’s visibility in politics.	Joyce Banda: Another reckoning force in the 2025 presidential race
		“Who was the most convincing candidate during the presidential debate?”—situating her candidacy alongside male rivals, symbolically normalising her as a political equal, even if scepticism remains.	Who was the most convincing candidate during the presidential debate?

) in Joyce Banda’s portrayal. The discussion interprets these results within feminist and framing theories, and the conclusion emphasises the need for more equitable media representations of women in executive roles.

2. Theoretical Underpinnings: Feminist Media Theory and the Framing of Political Authority

Framing theory provides the theoretical foundation for this study, as it describes how the media construct and disseminate meaning. Frames are conceptualised as interpretative schemas that emphasise certain features of a world while concealing others, thereby influencing how audiences understand political actors and events. Entman’s early work on framing remains the primary reference since it identifies four main tasks of frames: problem definition, causality, moral entrepreneurship, and solution (Song 2024). This makes framing theory highly suited for analysing political communication, in which contested meanings shape perceptions of leadership and legitimacy.

The theory is based on the ideas of selection and salience: media actors decide which elements of an issue to emphasise and how prominent to make these aspects. Repeated over an extended period, these emphasises normalise certain explanations as common sense (Sadri et al. 2024). Early on, elections and policy debates were featured, demonstrating how media coverage shapes voters’ perceptions. More recently, framing theory has also been utilised in gender and leadership research. For example, Fornaciari and Goldman (2024) found that Afghan women in peacebuilding are often framed as either helpless dependants or courageous exceptions, while Omoera and Emwınromwankhoe (2024) showed how Nollywood movies reinforce stereotypes that women are submissive. Mangoro (2023) likewise illustrated how South African media framing of gender-based violence perpetuates the idea that women are defined solely by their vulnerability.

Feminist media theory provides the foundational logic for the four analytical frames—competence, legitimacy, leadership, and ruling—by explaining how women’s authority is structurally constrained through gendered representational practices. Rather than serving as neutral transmitters of information, media institutions operate as ideological sites that reproduce patriarchal understandings of political authority (Ossome 2021; Werner 2022). The theory therefore conceptualises media portrayals as performative acts through which gendered power relations are normalised. In political communication, these dynamics manifest through frames that elevate women as leaders in symbolic or moral positions, while simultaneously questioning their competence and legitimacy to wield executive authority (Muringa et al. 2024).

Taken together, feminist media theory provides a coherent conceptual justification for using these four frames. They map directly onto longstanding debates regarding the gendered bifurcation between symbolic inclusion (leadership) and structural exclusion (ruling), and they correspond with the empirical tendencies identified in existing scholarship: women are portrayed as leaders in cultural or moral terms, but not as rulers capable of exercising executive power (Azanu et al. 2023). The framework thereby enables this study to interrogate the core paradox in media depictions of Joyce Banda: she is simultaneously celebrated as a pioneer and disqualified as a potential ruler.

This framework is especially well-suited for the case of Joyce Banda. As the first female president of Malawi, her presidency was visibly historic yet invariable contested through news stories that privileged gender over governance. Feminist media theory facilitates a more nuanced exploration of how those depictions both reflect and reinforce patriarchal obstacles to power at the presidency (Ossome 2021; Werner 2022; Azanu et al. 2023; Muringa et al. 2024). Using this lens accordingly permits the analysis to move beyond descriptive explanations of bias to consider how gendered stories operate as ideological instruments that constrain women’s legitimacy for power.

A substantial body of research demonstrates that media portrayals of women’s political leadership systematically reproduce patriarchal norms by questioning women’s fitness to govern and by foregrounding symbolic attributes over executive competence (Ossome 2021; Werner 2022; Azanu et al. 2023; Muringa et al. 2024). Comparative, discursive, and content-analytic studies across multiple regions consistently show that women are framed as visible leaders yet denied the discursive resources that construct them as legitimate rulers (Omoera and Emwınromwankhoe 2024). This scholarship directly supports a conceptual distinction between competence, legitimacy, leadership, and ruling, and shows how media systems selectively distribute these attributes along gendered lines.

• Media Framing of Competence: Gendered Measures of Capability

A common theme in global research is that political competence is discursively gendered. In Europe and North America, Thomas et al. (2021) demonstrate that female heads of government are portrayed as novelties, with coverage emphasising gender, personality, and exceptionality rather than governance expertise. This framing does not merely diminish women’s qualifications; it also portrays competence itself as something women must prove, while men are seen as inherently possessing it.

Wagner et al. (2022) expand on this by demonstrating that media associate decisiveness, authority, and strategic action with male leaders, while depicting women as collaborative, moral, or emotionally driven. This is not a neutral comparison in communication style: it reinforces a hierarchy where competence is defined through masculine-coded behaviours. Pastor and Verge’s (2022) analysis of political cartoons further shows that women leaders are visually trivialised, implying they lack gravitas.

These dynamics are evident worldwide. Ahlstrand (2021) illustrates that Indonesian media highlight women anchors’ competence in moral or domestic traits, rather than institutional authority. Similarly, Nwaoboli and Ajibulu (2023) show that Nigerian female presidential candidates are portrayed as outsiders, with their professional abilities rendered invisible. Fordjour and Sikanku (2022) find that female vice-presidential candidates in Ghana and the US use moral legitimacy strategies because media narratives seldom recognise the executive competence that is automatically granted to male candidates.

Across all these studies, a critical theoretical insight emerges: competence is framed relationally. Men are “competent until proven otherwise,” whereas women are “incompetent until proven exceptional.” This relational asymmetry directly supports the use of “competence” as a frame in analysing how women and men are differentially positioned within political discourse.

• Legitimacy: Media Construction of Political Authority as Conditional for Women

Legitimacy is a foundational dimension of political power, yet the literature shows that media recognise male authority as routine while treating women’s authority as conditional. Barnes and O’Brien (2025) demonstrate that structural bias in executive politics means women face intensified scrutiny even when holding high office. Krauss and Kroeber (2021) similarly show that women’s contributions to cabinet stability are underrepresented, reinforcing the perception that their authority is lesser or temporary. Nyrup et al. (2024) find that even when women are appointed to high positions, their authority is constrained by institutional routines that privilege male leadership. Aggestam and True (2021) show that women in foreign policy are depicted as facilitators rather than sovereign actors, revealing how gendered legitimacy operates even among elite political figures. A crucial nuance arises when these findings are placed in relational context: male political actors are granted legitimacy as a default status, and any challenge to their authority is framed as strategic or political. In contrast, women’s authority is framed as fragile, contested or temporary. This relational framing is essential for your study’s operationalisation of “legitimacy.” It explains why women leaders are scrutinised more harshly and why male counterparts—such as Mutharika in Malawi or Buhari in Nigeria—are framed through institutional continuity rather than conditional acceptance.

• Leadership: Symbolic Inclusion and the Discursive Containment of Women’s Power

A major contribution of African feminist scholarship is its demonstration that women’s leadership is acknowledged symbolically but denied structural weight. Chandilanga and Chikaipa (2024) show that Malawian media rely on stereotypes that frame women as moral or representational figures rather than strategic actors. Wigle et al. (2022) highlight how empowerment rhetoric masks the systematic exclusion of young women from decision-making, illustrating that leadership for women is often participatory but rarely directive. Groves and Johnson (2025) argue that this symbolic positioning reflects deep-seated patriarchal norms in African political culture. Munisi (2024) finds that Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is framed primarily through maternal imagery, which elevates her symbolic appeal while diluting perceptions of her executive authority. Mullany and Lumala (2022) show that East African gender discourse similarly associates women with nurturing roles that lack political command. Importantly, symbolic leadership is also reinforced in global media. Azanu et al. (2023) show that even foreign coverage frames African women leaders through morality, domesticity and relational identity rather than institutional power. These patterns reveal a critical contradiction that women are welcomed as “leaders” only in roles stripped of the power to make authoritative decisions.

• Ruling: The Domain of Executive Power and Its Gendered Restriction

The concept of “ruling” directly captures what feminist media scholars identify as the most gender-restricted form of political authority. Muringa and McCracken (2021) show that South African media cast women presidential hopefuls as incapable of administrative command, reinforcing the belief that executive decision-making is a male prerogative. Burnett (2022) finds similar patterns across institutional settings, where symbolic inclusion does not translate into governing authority. In Zimbabwe, Mangena (2021) demonstrates that Joice Mujuru and Grace Mugabe are framed through wifehood, morality and personal identity, thereby denying them the qualities associated with sovereign rule. Chikafa-Chipiro (2023) shows that young Zimbabwean women who challenge these norms online still confront symbolic violence and delegitimisation in mainstream media. Vengesai (2024) highlights how crises such as COVID-19 exacerbate these gendered inequalities, reinforcing the notion that women are unsuited to national leadership during moments of national strain. Across the literature, male presidential candidates (e.g., Mutharika in Malawi, Buhari in Nigeria, Ramaphosa in South Africa) are framed as naturalised rulers whose legitimacy is embedded in political tradition, not personal identity. Their missteps are framed as strategic battles or political manoeuvres; women’s missteps are framed as evidence of inherent unsuitability. Thus, “ruling” becomes analytically distinct from “leadership,” capturing the final boundary of authority that media permit men but deny to women.

Across global and African contexts, the literature reveals a coherent ideological pattern: women’s leadership is narratively constructed to be symbolically expansive but structurally constrained. Competence is coded masculine; legitimacy is treated as conditional; leadership is framed as moral and domestic; and ruling—the domain of definitive political power—remains narratively and institutionally masculine. The theoretical gap, therefore, is not a lack of documentation of media bias but a lack of interrogation of how these discrete frames interact to produce a coherent system of gendered political containment. The literature shows that women may be narratively included but substantively excluded, legitimised as moral actors but delegitimised as political ones, celebrated as historic “firsts” but denied the authority of sovereign rule. This synthesis underscores a critical direction for research: understanding how media frames actively construct the boundary between leadership as symbolic visibility and ruling as legitimate power, and how this boundary systematically restricts women’s ability to exercise and be recognised for executive authority.

Within this theoretical logic, competence is not only the ability to execute policy but also a measure of conformity to masculine-coded expectations of decisiveness, rationality, and technocratic authority (Azanu et al. 2023; Thomas et al. 2021). Legitimacy, in turn, reflects whether a candidate is afforded moral and institutional credibility, an area where women face heightened scrutiny and conditional acceptance (Barnes and O’Brien 2025; Krauss and Kroeber 2021). The concept of leadership within feminist media theory describes the symbolic, nurturing, or moral attributes assigned to women—attributes that are encouraged culturally but rarely translated into executive mandate (Werner 2022; Muringa and McCracken 2021). Finally, ruling denotes the authority to command, decide, and govern—a domain feminist scholars identify as typically reserved for men through discursive and institutional gatekeeping (Aggestam and True 2021; Ahlstrand 2021).

3. Materials and Methods

This study employed qualitative content analysis with a framing analytic lens to examine how Malawian online news media constructed Joyce Banda’s political authority. Qualitative content analysis is particularly suited to feminist media research because it enables a systematic interrogation of how textual patterns encode and reproduce gendered political meanings (Neuendorf 2022; Krippendorff 2022). Framing analysis strengthens this approach by allowing the study to assess how media narratives emphasise attributes, identities, and causal logics in ways that reinforce or challenge patriarchal power structures (Fornaciari and Goldman 2024).

Sampling and Corpus Boundaries

To ensure analytical coherence, the study delineated a sampling frame consisting of 75 Malawi24 news articles published between 1 April 2012 and 31 January 2025. This period was selected to capture three interconnected phases of Joyce Banda’s political trajectory: her presidency (2012–2014), her post-presidency political engagement (2015–2020), and her renewed presidential ambitions from 2021 to 2025. Examining these distinct phases aligns with feminist media scholarship, which emphasises analysing women leaders across their political lifecycle rather than limiting analysis to active campaigning or periods of executive power (Munisi 2024; Chandilanga and Chikaipa 2024). This approach makes it possible to assess whether gendered frames, such as symbolic portrayals, moral expectations, or delegitimising narratives, persist, shift, or intensify across different stages of a woman leader’s public life.

The final corpus was constructed through clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Articles were included if they explicitly mentioned Joyce Banda, engaged substantively with her presidency, political activities, governance record, public interventions, or campaign participation, and fell within the political or public-interest genres. Exclusion criteria removed articles that referenced Banda only tangentially, focused on unrelated policy issues, or were non-news items such as classifieds or anonymous opinion pieces. These boundaries produced a focused and coherent dataset that supports robust claims about the framing of Banda within this media outlet.

Malawi24 was selected as the data source because it is one of Malawi’s most widely accessed online news platforms (Kanyang’wa and Lotshwao 2023) and provides extensive political reporting relevant to presidential leadership. Using purposive keyword searches, including “Joyce Banda,” “president,” “leadership,” “governance,” “People’s Party,” and “2025 elections”, articles were systematically identified within the established sampling period. This purposive sampling strategy aligns with African feminist media research, which emphasises targeted corpus construction to trace gendered framing around specific women political actors (Munisi 2024; Chandilanga and Chikaipa 2024). The unit of analysis was the full article, consistent with framing theory’s view that frames operate through overarching narratives rather than isolated sentences (Muringa et al. 2024). Each article was holistically coded for dominant frames using headline cues, lead paragraphs, and narrative emphasis, with multiple codes assigned where relevant. This allowed coding decisions to capture both the presence of specific frames and the broader interpretive positioning of Banda’s political identity.

The coding strategy followed a deductive–inductive hybrid design (see Appendix A,

Table A1. Coding Frame for Joyce Banda Media Coverage.

Article Title	Date Published	Media Outlet	Problem Definition	Causal Interpretation	Moral Evaluation	Treatment Recommendation	Gendered Language Present	Framing of Emotionality	Framing of Ambition
Joyce Banda’s PP main beneficiary of Cashgate–convict	2014	Malawi24	Banda linked to Cashgate scandal; governance failures highlighted	Media frames Cashgate as systemic but implicates Banda personally	Frames Banda as complicit or untrustworthy	Removal from office, criminal accountability	Yes—portrayed as a “beneficiary” rather than decision-maker, implying dependence	Emotional detachment implied; no empathy, focus on guilt	Ambition framed as corrupt pursuit of power
Joyce Banda promises to elevate chiefs	2014	Malawi24	Questions over capacity to govern through traditional authority	Banda tied to patronage politics and reliance on chiefs	Presents her as pragmatic but not transformative	Maintain traditional alliances for political survival	Yes—reliance on “elevating” male chiefs as gatekeepers	Low emotional framing	Ambition depicted as rooted in traditional power, not visionary leadership
Mphwiyo “shooter” implicates Joyce Banda	2015	Malawi24	Banda linked to violent crime; scandalised leadership	Banda framed as entangled in criminal networks	Frames her as politically tainted, morally compromised	Legal accountability, withdrawal from politics	Yes—scandalisation undermines female credibility	Emotion framed as denial or defensiveness	Ambition portrayed as reckless pursuit of power at all costs
“It is possible”: Joyce Banda’s People’s Party Manifesto links Malawi2063 vision	2019	Malawi24	Policy credibility questioned; viability of promises	Banda’s manifesto tied to long-term national vision	Framed as optimistic but possibly unrealistic	Calls for pragmatic development goals	No overt gendered language, but subtle dismissal of female policy authority	Framed as overly idealistic (“dreaming”)	Ambition depicted as overreaching yet hopeful
Joyce Banda: Another reckoning force in the 2025 presidential race	2024	Malawi24	Her return framed as controversial and contested	Media interprets her persistence as refusal to retire	Morally evaluated as resilient yet disruptive	Suggests she should support younger leaders	Yes—descriptions of her as “comeback woman” highlight anomaly	Framed as stubborn and relentless	Ambition framed as excessive, unwilling to cede ground
Joyce Banda betrayed Malawian women—Chanco book	2025	Malawi24	Banda accused of betraying women’s cause during presidency	Interprets her failure as abandonment of gender solidarity	Casts her as hypocritical—advocating women’s rights but failing to deliver	Calls for authentic female leadership	Yes—language of “betrayal” tied to gender role expectations	Emotion framed as disappointment from women’s groups	Ambition framed as self-serving, prioritising survival over solidarity
Five million people to benefit from Ukraine grain, says Joyce Banda	2025	Malawi24	Banda framed as humanitarian, aligning with philanthropy rather than executive politics	Banda portrayed as more effective outside presidency	Moral evaluation highlights her as “maternal provider”	Recommends positioning her in philanthropy, not politics	Yes—motherly and caring language	Emotionality framed as empathy and compassion	Ambition framed as humanitarian rather than presidential

). Deductively, a priori codes were developed from feminist media theory and framing literature, drawing on Entman’s (1993) four framing functions and feminist conceptualisations of political authority. These a priori categories included competence, legitimacy, leadership, ruling, and stereotypical tropes such as domesticity, morality, or symbolic novelty (Thomas et al. 2021; Azanu et al. 2023). Inductively, additional patterns emerged during close reading of the corpus, including governance and corruption framing, political vulnerability, maternal or philanthropic symbolism, gendered attacks, and pioneer/exceptional woman framing. These emergent patterns were subsequently consolidated into the four overarching conceptual frame families, ensuring theoretical coherence and preventing post hoc interpretive drift. For example, corruption was subsumed under legitimacy, maternal symbolism under leadership, and gendered attacks were mapped onto both competence and ruling frames. This hybrid design provided a structured yet flexible analytic scaffold for interpreting how gendered discourses shaped the media’s portrayal of Banda.

To enhance reliability and validity, two independent coders analysed 20% of the dataset (15 articles), yielding a Cohen’s kappa score of 0.73, which surpasses conventional standards for intercoder reliability (Neuendorf 2022). Discrepancies were resolved through consensus meetings, leading to refined frame definitions and clarification of overlapping categories. Additional validity-enhancing strategies included systematic documentation of coding decisions, coder memoing to capture interpretive insights, and triangulation between deductive codes and inductively generated patterns. Finally, the study acknowledges a key methodological limitation: the analysis focuses exclusively on Joyce Banda and does not include a comparative baseline of male presidential candidates in Malawi24. Consequently, while the study identifies gendered patterns consistent with feminist media scholarship (Ross 2017), it does not measure differences in framing frequency or intensity across gender. The findings should therefore be interpreted as a qualitative account of gendered meaning-making in the representation of a specific woman leader, with future comparative research needed to empirically assess gender differentials in Malawian political news framing.

4. Results

This section presents the findings that emerged from the news articles. Themes are presented and interpreted in line with framing theory and feminist media scholarship. Where alternative interpretations of individual quotes are possible, the analysis makes clear that gendered readings arise from the accumulation of patterns across the dataset and the wider feminist literature, not from any single phrase in isolation.

• Competence and Executive Leadership

Joyce Banda’s political leadership was frequently mediated through competence frames, which evaluated her capacity to govern in comparison with male rivals. While her policy ambitions were often acknowledged, the media simultaneously cast her promises as aspirational or incomplete, thereby weakening her authority as an executive leader. Framing theory highlights how such representations do not neutrally report but actively construct political meaning, amplifying doubt and conditioning legitimacy. Feminist media theory suggests that these narratives reproduce patriarchal norms, in which leadership is often coded as masculine and women must constantly prove their capabilities (Ross 2017; Coffie and Medie 2021). It is important to note that some elements of this framing—such as comparing political contenders or scrutinising promises, are common features of African election coverage for both male and female candidates. What gives these frames a gendered resonance is the consistent pattern in which Banda’s competence was questioned alongside an absence of similar doubt directed at male aspirants.

In an article titled, “It is possible: Joyce Banda’s People’s Party Manifesto links Malawi2063 vision” (Munthali 2025), the article reported Banda saying: “It is possible to achieve the aspirations of Malawi2063 if we start now with determination and commitment” (Munthali 2025). While visionary, the phrase “It is possible” became the interpretive anchor, subtly framing her promises as uncertain and dependent rather than decisive. Instead of positioning her as an authoritative leader charting Malawi’s future, the media constructed her voice as tentative, needing validation through possibility rather than certainty. Moreover, while this expression could indeed function as a mobilisation slogan comparable to “Yes we can”, the coverage tended to frame it as evidence of tentativeness rather than strategic optimism. This gendered reading derives not from the phrase alone but from the broader pattern across articles (Malawi24 Reporter 2018; Kondowe 2018) that cast Banda’s vision as uncertain while presenting male candidates’ promises as confident or authoritative.

Similarly, in a news article entitled “Joyce Banda promises to elevate chiefs” (Malawi24 Reporter 2018), the author quoted Joyce Banda’s declaration: “Once elected, I will ensure chiefs are elevated and given the dignity they deserve” (Malawi24 Reporter 2018). This coverage situated her leadership within the traditionalist framework of patriarchal authority. By focusing on chiefs rather than structural reforms, the article framed Banda as reliant on custom rather than transformative governance. Moreover, while it is true that consulting chiefs is a normal expectation for any Malawian presidential hopeful—male or female—given Malawi’s hybrid governance model. The gendered inflexion emerges from how the article emphasised her reliance on cultural authority, whereas similar actions by male leaders are often framed as politically strategic rather than culturally deferential (Muringa 2019). Moreover, the emphasis on her “promise” rather than a concrete plan reinforced the perception of her as a leader defined by aspiration rather than delivery.

Another example is the article “Joyce Banda wants to complete development agenda” (Kondowe 2018), where the article noted: “Banda told her supporters that she has unfinished business in bringing development to Malawians and should be given the chance to complete her agenda” (Kondowe 2018). The frame of “unfinished business” constructed her as incomplete, suggesting inefficiency or incapacity to fulfil her earlier promises. Instead of crediting her with prior achievements, the coverage highlighted gaps, implying she fell short of executive decisiveness. Male presidents have also invoked unfinished agendas, but their declarations are typically framed as continuity or long-term planning. Banda’s version was instead narrated as evidence of incompleteness—illustrating how gender shapes the evaluative tone rather than the promise’s mere content.

Finally, in an opinion article titled “Who was the most convincing candidate during the presidential debate?” (Dzida 2025a), Banda was positioned alongside male rivals. The article remarked: “While Banda spoke passionately about development, observers questioned whether her arguments carried the same weight as those of her opponents.”? (Dzida 2025a). Here, her competence was not assessed on its own terms but comparatively, reinforcing her outsider status in a masculine-coded contest of authority.

Together, these frames discursively position Banda as visionary but insufficient—a leader of aspirations, promises, and “unfinished business.” Through framing theory, it is clear how media reporting actively constructed her image as less executive and more conditional, reinforcing gendered assumptions that women’s leadership remains perpetually incomplete.

• Governance and Corruption

Joyce Banda’s presidency was overwhelmingly framed through the lens of Cashgate, Malawi’s infamous corruption scandal. While corruption is a recurrent theme in African political reporting, feminist media scholars argue that women leaders are disproportionately delegitimised by scandal frames because their authority is already contested within patriarchal systems (Mateveke and Chikafa-Chipiro 2020; Coffie and Medie 2021). In Banda’s case, Cashgate became the dominant interpretive framework, overshadowing her policies and reducing her political legacy to one of scandal management and alleged complicity. At the same time, it is essential to acknowledge that corruption allegations are also routinely weaponised against male presidents in Malawi and beyond. Corruption is the “lingua franca” of African election coverage. The gendered element in Banda’s case emerges not from the presence of corruption coverage—common to all presidents—but from how it is narratively tied to doubts about her legitimacy and capacity, reinforcing gendered suspicions of unfitness for executive power.

It is important to recognise that corruption allegations are regularly weaponised against male presidents in Malawi—most notably Bingu wa Mutharika and Peter Mutharika—suggesting that scandal is not inherently gendered. However, the interpretive burden it imposes differs: whereas male leaders are often framed as politically embattled yet resilient, women leaders like Banda face heightened moral judgement that reinforces pre-existing doubts about their legitimacy and fitness for executive power. In this study, the gendered reading therefore arises from the pattern of narrative emphasis rather than the mere existence of corruption reports.

In a news article titled “Joyce Banda’s PP main beneficiary of Cashgate—convict” (Jimu 2017), the author reported: “A convict told the High Court that the People’s Party under Joyce Banda benefited the most from Cashgate funds” (Jimu 2017). By attributing direct benefit to Banda’s party, the media created a causal link between her leadership and systemic corruption. Even though allegations were contested, the framing positioned her governance as inherently compromised, reducing her political agency to an association with illegitimacy. This type of framing is less commonly applied to male presidents (Muringa 2019) whose parties or associates have also been implicated in scandal but whose political identities are not immediately collapsed into moral failure.

Similarly, a news article titled “Joyce Banda wanted to use Cashgate to win elections in 2014” (Dumbula 2016) stated: “Prosecution lawyers argued that Banda planned to exploit looted funds to finance her re-election bid.” Here, governance is not portrayed as reformist or policy-driven but as self-serving. The scandal narrative reconstructs Banda’s executive authority as instrumental to personal gain, situating her within the archetype of the “corrupt African politician”—a trope amplified when applied to a woman leader whose legitimacy was already fragile. In the case of male leaders, similar accusations often trigger narratives of political strategy, factional struggle, or institutional betrayal (Chikafa-Chipiro 2023). Banda, however, was framed as individually morally deficient, indicating a differential attribution of agency and blame.

In a news article “Mphwiyo ‘shooter’ implicates Joyce Banda” (Mkhalipi-Manyungwa 2015). the report claimed: “The shooter alleged that Banda had knowledge of the attempted murder of former budget director Paul Mphwiyo, whose shooting exposed Cashgate” (Mkhalipi-Manyungwa 2015). This escalated the scandal frame from corruption to criminality, positioning Banda not only as politically untrustworthy but as potentially complicit in violence. Such portrayals reinforce feminist media theory’s contention that scandals often metastasise around women leaders, intertwining with gendered suspicions of moral weakness (Ross 2017). An alternative reading acknowledges that any president—male or female—would face intense scrutiny under such allegations (Ross 2017). However, the addition of criminal suspicion compounds gendered perceptions that women in power are morally suspect or untrustworthy (Muringa and McCracken 2021).

Even retrospective accounts perpetuated this frame. In an article, “Mutharika: Malawi on the verge of collapse, Banda’s Cashgate left nothing at treasury” (Makina 2015). Banda’s leadership was framed through a narrative of ruin: “The president said Banda’s Cashgate left the country bankrupt, with nothing in the national treasury” (Makina 2015). By making Cashgate the sole interpretive lens of her presidency, the media foreclosed recognition of her broader governance record. This contrasts with retrospective assessments of male presidencies (Azanu et al. 2023), where multiple factors—economic cycles, institutional weaknesses, and global shocks—are invoked to contextualise national crises rather than attributing them singularly to personal leadership failure.

Framing theory demonstrates how these corruption narratives function as more than reporting—they actively defined Banda’s executive identity. Whereas male leaders implicated in corruption are often framed as “survivors” or “strategists,” (Ross 2017) Banda was cast as illegitimate and morally tainted. The implication is profound: her presidency was discursively emptied of governance achievements, reconstructed instead as the story of Cashgate.

• Political Vulnerability

Media coverage of Joyce Banda consistently framed her political authority as fragile and embattled. It often defines her leadership in terms of her rivalry with male figures rather than her independent accomplishments. From a framing theory perspective, this reflects the tendency of political reporting to situate women leaders within a framework of conditional legitimacy, where their power appears temporary and easily undermined (Ross 2017; Celis and Childs 2018). It is important to acknowledge that political rivalry, contestation, and intra-party tension are common features of African executive politics for both male and female leaders. However, the gendered significance arises from the cumulative pattern in which Banda’s legitimacy is portrayed as unusually contingent or unstable. This aligns with broader feminist analyses of how women’s political authority is perceived as more tenuous than men’s, despite similar circumstances (Celis and Childs 2018).

In a news article titled “Joyce Banda only fears Mutharika’s evil schemes—PP” (Bisani 2016), the article reported: “People’s Party officials claimed Banda had no fears except for Mutharika’s evil plans to unseat her” (Bisani 2016). This frame positions Banda’s authority as contingent on her male rival, rendering her legitimacy derivative rather than autonomous. Feminist media theory underscores how such narratives reinforce patriarchal assumptions that women leaders can only be understood in relation to men (Van Zoonen 2006). At the same time, it is reasonable in political contexts for any candidate—male or female—to frame opponents as threats. What becomes notable in Banda’s case is how frequently such relational framing appears across the sample, reinforcing a persistent narrative of dependent legitimacy.

Similarly, in “Joyce Banda’s powers put to test” (Sambalikagwa 2016), it was stated: “Banda’s decisions are being challenged at every turn, leaving her powers weakened and uncertain” (Sambalikagwa 2016). The language of “test” implies that her authority was provisional and constantly on trial, unlike the more stable authority often granted to male presidents. This aligns with Sreberny’s (2014) observation that women leaders face an endless cycle of justification, where their legitimacy must be continuously reasserted. Although male leaders also encounter political tests (Muringa et al. 2024), media evaluations of Banda often foregrounded uncertainty and instability rather than institutional contestation, indicating a gendered interpretive tilt.

Even when framed positively, Banda’s authority was cast as temporary. In an article “People’s Party wants Joyce Banda ousted!” (Soko 2015), the article noted: “Some governors have called for her replacement, arguing she cannot deliver electoral victory.” (Soko 2015) Such portrayals delegitimise her leadership by situating it within intra-party fragility, reinforcing the perception that her power lacked a firm base. In African political parties, leadership disputes are common (Women’s Political Participation Africa Barometer 2024). However, Banda’s challenges were framed less as routine political manoeuvring and more as symptomatic of personal inadequacy, illustrating how gender shapes the interpretive tone of similar political events.

These frames cumulatively constructed Banda not as a decisive executive but as a vulnerable figure whose authority was perpetually unstable. Framing theory reveals that this vulnerability narrative not only undermined her political image (Ossome 2021; Werner 2022). It also reinforced broader gendered stereotypes that women leaders are less capable of consolidating lasting legitimacy. Importantly, this interpretation does not claim that vulnerability is unique to Banda; rather, the combination of repeated narratives of precarious authority and the wider feminist literature (Muringa et al. 2024; Van Zoonen 2006) on women’s political mediation strengthens the conclusion that gendered dynamics influenced how her legitimacy was constructed in the media.

• Maternal and Symbolic Leadership

The media often framed Joyce Banda as the “Mother of the Nation,” celebrating her nurturing, philanthropic, and symbolic roles rather than highlighting her institutional political capacity. This aligns with feminist media theory, which argues that women leaders are legitimised through maternal tropes that valorise care and compassion but obscure technocratic competence (Van Zoonen 2006; Mendes 2011). Framing theory illustrates how symbolic motherhood becomes a dominant lens for interpreting women’s leadership, enabling moral authority but depoliticising executive power. While philanthropy and compassion are features of political leadership more broadly—and male presidents also undertake charitable or humanitarian activities—the consistently maternalised tone applied to Banda’s coverage amplified gendered expectations that frame women as caregivers first and political strategists second. The gendered interpretation, therefore, emerges from the patterned repetition of maternal imagery, not from any single instance.

In a news article titled, “Joyce Banda Foundation reaches out to 6000 children in nursery schools in Zomba” (Likaka 2024), the article reported: “The Foundation has reached out to thousands of children by providing meals and learning materials to vulnerable learners” (Likaka 2024). This construction foregrounds Banda as a caregiver who “feeds and educates children,” situating her leadership in maternal generosity rather than in governance. An alternative reading may recognise this as ordinary political philanthropy. However, the repeated emphasis on nurturing roles contrasts with how male leaders’ philanthropic acts are often framed as demonstrations of state-building or development leadership rather than personal caregiving.

Similarly, an article titled, “Kaliati hails Joyce Banda Foundation for caring for children” (Likaka 2022) stated that “We commend Dr. Banda for her motherly heart in ensuring that the children of Malawi are looked after” (Likaka 2022). The “motherly heart” metaphor demonstrates how her leadership was discursively tied to nurturing, reinforcing patriarchal expectations of women as moral guardians of society. Such metaphors subtly shift public expectations. They invite evaluation of Banda in affective rather than administrative terms. Thereby narrowing the interpretive space available for recognising her as an institutional decision-maker.

This maternal symbolism extended beyond childcare to national relief efforts. In the article, “Five million people to benefit from Ukraine grain, says Joyce Banda” (Banda 2023), Banda was quoted as declaring: “The initiative will ensure that no Malawian sleeps on an empty stomach” (Banda 2023). Here, Banda is portrayed not as a policy strategist but as a protector against hunger—a framing that affirms compassion but downplays political tact. While hunger relief is a standard policy concern for any president, the coverage leaned toward personalised maternal protection, obscuring the structural or diplomatic dimensions of her intervention.

The theme of symbolic motherhood also entered cultural commentary. In a news article “Joyce Banda meets child who dressed as her” (Zinazi 2022), the article reported: “The child’s imitation showed how she inspired young girls, with Banda smiling like a proud mother” (Zinazi 2022). Rather than political analysis, Banda’s symbolic resonance was celebrated, reinforcing her status as an inspiration rather than a decision-maker. Such celebratory coverage enhances her symbolic capital but simultaneously limits perceptions of her technical policy leadership, a tension well documented in the feminist literature.

While these narratives elevated Banda as a moral figure close to the people, they also constrained her political identity. As feminist theorists argue, maternal frames create a paradox: women leaders gain symbolic legitimacy but lose recognition as political strategists (Ross 2017; Antunovic and Cooky 2024). The power effects are substantive: maternalisation lowers expectations regarding strategic decision-making, makes political criticism more personalised, and reduces public imagination of women as authoritative wielders of state power.

Overall, Banda’s maternal framing legitimised her as a national caregiver, yet simultaneously depoliticised her presidency by prioritising imagery of compassion over executive authority. This illustrates the enduring gendered paradox in African political reporting where women leaders are celebrated for embodying care but denied recognition as equal agents of power. The findings do not suggest that maternal symbolism is inherently negative or unique to Banda, but rather that when it becomes the dominant interpretive frame, it constrains public perceptions of women’s eligibility for authoritative, policy-driven, or sovereign leadership roles.

• Pioneer and Symbol of Women’s Political Advancement

Despite hostile and delegitimising portrayals, Joyce Banda was also framed as a trailblazer whose candidacy symbolised women’s political progress in Malawi. This aligns with feminist democratic representation theory, which argues that women leaders are often celebrated as milestones for gender equality, even as their authority is simultaneously questioned (Celis and Childs 2018). Media coverage positioned Banda as both a symbol of hope and a political anomaly, underscoring the ambivalence surrounding women’s entry into presidential politics. Such portrayals tap into a longstanding tendency to acknowledge women’s breakthroughs symbolically while stopping short of framing them as institutionally transformative. Thereby, reinforcing a representational rather than substantive conception of political inclusion.

For example, in an article, “Joyce Banda: Another reckoning force in the 2025 presidential race” (Dzida 2025b), Banda was described as “a formidable contender, whose presence reshapes the political landscape by keeping the dream of women’s leadership alive” (Dzida 2025b). This framing elevates Banda’s symbolic role as a disruptor of male-dominated politics, even though it does not fully assess her executive capacity. While this celebratory tone can be read positively, it simultaneously locates her significance in what she represents for women rather than in her own political programme or governance record. This mirrors a broader trend in which women leaders are framed as embodiments of gender progress rather than as complex political actors.

Similarly, in an article “Who was the most convincing candidate during the presidential debate?” (Dzida 2025a). Banda was included alongside her male rivals, with the article noting: “Banda delivered a passionate and articulate presentation, standing as a reminder that women too can compete at the highest level of politics” (Dzida 2025b). Here, she is legitimised as a political equal in symbolic terms, though subtle undertones of scepticism linger in descriptions of her performance as “emotional” compared to her rivals’ “strategic” delivery. This dual framing, celebration coupled with coded diminishment, echoes patterns documented in feminist media research (Chandilanga and Chikaipa 2024), where women are permitted symbolic parity but denied interpretive authority through subtle contrasts with male rationality or decisiveness.

The symbolic recognition was also evident in international reporting. In an article “Joyce Banda to launch 2019 presidential bid” (Jimu 2016), her candidacy was framed as historic: “Her return to the ballot reflects the resilience of Africa’s few female leaders who challenge entrenched patriarchies” (Jimu 2016). This highlighted her persistence as part of a broader global struggle for women’s inclusion. Yet even this global framing positions Banda within a narrative of rarity and exceptionality, reinforcing the idea that women’s leadership is noteworthy precisely because it remains uncommon.

These portrayals reveal the paradox of Banda’s symbolic framing: she was celebrated as a pioneer for women’s political advancement, yet her recognition was couched in exceptionalism, suggesting she was the exception, not the norm. Framing theory underscores that while such symbolism enhances visibility, it risks depoliticising women leaders by valuing them for representational novelty rather than substantive governance. Symbolic pioneer framing can enhance visibility, but it also risks reinforcing the perception that women’s leadership is an anomaly—something extraordinary rather than an ordinary feature of political life. This exceptionalism limits the imaginative horizon for women’s political authority and can inadvertently stabilise male dominance as the political norm.

5. Discussion

The framing of Joyce Banda’s presidency in Malawian media reveals persistent gendered dynamics that illuminate broader theoretical debates in feminist media studies, particularly concerning the politics of representation, intersectionality, and symbolic legitimacy. Rather than functioning as neutral reflections of political reality, the frames identified—competence, corruption, legitimacy, maternalism, and symbolic pioneering—constitute discursive practices that define who is deemed “fit to lead.” Feminist scholars such as Van Zoonen (2006), Ross (2017), and Mendes (2011) have long argued that women’s political visibility is mediated through patriarchal codes of femininity and respectability. The findings of this study confirm that Banda’s leadership was filtered through precisely such gendered lenses, where her political identity was rendered simultaneously visible yet politically constrained. This allows us to revisit previous studies such as Azanu et al. (2023), which documented how domesticity and “soft skills” frames shaped perceptions of women in presidency. Malawi24 reproduces many of these representational tendencies—maternalism, symbolic novelty, moralisation. However, the present study extends this scholarship by showing how these frames collectively manufacture the deeper paradox of symbolic leadership without institutional legitimacy.

The competence frame exemplifies the “double bind” dilemma extensively discussed in feminist leadership literature (Jamieson 1995; Eagly and Karau 2002). Banda was represented as visionary yet lacking decisiveness, aspirational yet incomplete. This ambivalence reflects how female leaders are evaluated through contradictory expectations: they must exhibit masculine-coded decisiveness while embodying feminine virtues of humility and care. These dual demands render their authority perpetually unstable. This resonates with African evidence from Munisi (2024), who found that Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan was similarly praised as nurturing while implicitly denied full authoritative agency. In African contexts, as Azanu et al. (2023) and Mateveke and Chikafa-Chipiro (2020) note, this dynamic is compounded by colonial and postcolonial hierarchies that racialise and regionalise women’s leadership. Banda’s depiction as tentative and dependent thus resonates with broader patterns of postcolonial paternalism that position African women leaders as symbolic participants rather than transformative agents. This echoes Goetz and Hassim’s (2003) earlier observation that Southern African women ascend to executive office but are denied the political authority needed to govern effectively.

Similarly, the dominance of corruption and scandal frames situates Banda within what feminist media theorists identify as “moral surveillance” (Gill 2007), where women in power are subjected to intensified scrutiny that conflates ethical failure with gender deviance. While corruption is a legitimate journalistic concern, the disproportionate moralisation of Banda’s alleged complicity in Cashgate demonstrates how scandal becomes gendered. Compared with male counterparts, whose corruption may be reframed as strategic or survivable, women leaders are portrayed as morally fallen and politically unfit (Coffie and Medie 2021; Muringa and McCracken 2021). This parallels Mangena’s (2021) findings on the vilification of Joice Mujuru and Grace Mugabe, as well as Chikafa-Chipiro’s (2023) research on the symbolic violence targeted at young Zimbabwean women politicians. This gendered scandalisation echoes Sreberny’s (2014) notion of “gendered delegitimisation,” in which women’s authority is eroded through the feminisation of failure. Thus, the scandal frame is not merely descriptive; it is a site where gendered power relations are reproduced and contested.

From an intersectional perspective, Banda’s portrayal also reveals the intersection of gender, class, and cultural legitimacy. Her maternal framing—as “Mother of the Nation”—invokes what Ndlovu (2020) calls “respectability citizenship,” where women leaders are valued for moral virtue rather than political acumen. Maternalism can humanise leadership but also depoliticises it by confining women to the private sphere of care and morality. While this imagery resonated positively with local cultural expectations, it also undermined her authority as an executive decision-maker. Munisi (2024) observed an identical dynamic in media reports on Hassan, where maternal symbolism expanded emotional appeal but undermined perceptions of her sovereign authority. Similarly, Muringa and McCracken’s (2021) analysis of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma shows how maternal tropes coexist with delegitimation narratives. Intersectional feminist theory reminds us that such representations are not universal but contextually specific—Banda’s motherhood symbolism must be read within Malawi’s patriarchal political culture, where authority is historically masculinised and women’s legitimacy derives from community rather than state power.

The symbolic framing of Banda as a pioneer of women’s political advancement also reflects the ambivalence central to feminist debates on descriptive representation. Celis and Childs (2018) argue that the celebration of “firsts” often transforms women leaders into exceptional figures, thereby reinforcing, rather than dismantling, structural exclusion. Banda’s visibility as a trailblazer is thus a paradox: while she expanded the symbolic horizon of female leadership, the media’s emphasis on her exceptionality implied that she remained an anomaly in a male-dominated field. This aligns with Pastor and Verge’s (2022) critique that women’s inclusion in elite politics often serves liberal-democratic legitimation rather than substantive gender equality. This trajectory parallels the framing of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Joyce Banda in transnational media (Azanu et al. 2023), where symbolic elevation coexists with institutional marginalisation.

A unifying thread across all the frames identified in the findings is the persistent “lead but not rule” paradox, in which Joyce Banda is permitted symbolic visibility yet denied institutional authority. The competence frame cast her as visionary but insufficiently decisive. This allows her to inspire but not to govern. Corruption narratives further eroded her moral credibility, stripping her of the ethical authority required to manage state power. Legitimacy frames portrayed her political position as conditional and precarious, positioning her leadership as derivative, relational, and easily destabilised. Maternal representations elevated her as a moral figure and national caregiver but simultaneously depoliticised her, confining her authority to the domains of compassion and community rather than executive command. Even the pioneer frame celebrated her as a trailblazer while marking her as exceptional, reinforcing her symbolic worth but withholding her institutional normalisation.

Taken together, these patterned framings demonstrate that Banda could “lead” in ways that aligned with gendered expectations—encouraging, nurturing, inspiring—but was repeatedly constructed as unfit to “rule” in the sovereign sense associated with control of the treasury, enforcement of party discipline, appointment power, or authoritative decision-making. This paradox mirrors broader African feminist scholarship, which documents how women may enter elite political spaces but remain constrained by discursive and institutional architectures that render ruling power symbolically masculine and structurally inaccessible.

Engaging these results through an intersectional feminist lens points to the need to interrogate how media discourse interacts with class, ethnicity, and geopolitical context. Banda’s identity as a Southern African, rural-born, and postcolonial woman leader complicates simplistic readings of gender bias. Her leadership was mediated not only through gender but also through developmentalist expectations and neocolonial narratives that exoticise African governance. In this sense, Banda’s framing mirrors broader global hierarchies of representation, where African women leaders are celebrated symbolically but denied epistemic and institutional legitimacy.

Taken together, these insights demonstrate that media framing is a site of epistemic struggle over gendered political authority. Integrating feminist media theory and intersectionality deepens our understanding of how symbolic celebration and structural subordination coexist in the portrayal of African women leaders. Future feminist media research must therefore move beyond documenting bias to theorising how representation itself constitutes political power—how visibility, voice, and legitimacy are gendered through intersecting discursive regimes.

The findings of this study carry important implications for both feminist media theory and framing theory. From a feminist media perspective, the maternal, symbolic, and delegitimising frames surrounding Joyce Banda reinforce the argument that women leaders are consistently evaluated against patriarchal norms that privilege masculinity as the benchmark of executive authority (Thomas et al. 2021; Azanu et al. 2023). This underscores Van Zoonen’s claim that gender is a structuring principle in media discourse, shaping which qualities are celebrated and which are dismissed. Framing theory further illuminates how these portrayals work by selectively emphasising competence, corruption, or emotionality, constructing narratives that both elevate and constrain women’s leadership (Roslyng and Dindler 2022).

In practice, these findings highlight the urgent need for gender-sensitive reporting guidelines in electoral contexts. Media practitioners must interrogate the subtle ways in which symbolic maternal tropes, scandal emphasis, and contradictory double binds reproduce patriarchal power, ultimately shaping public perceptions of women’s political viability. For advocacy and governance, the results suggest that without conscious interventions in newsroom practices and electoral coverage, women presidential candidates will continue to face structural disadvantages. Therefore, feminist-informed media literacy programmes, newsroom training, and accountability frameworks are crucial to ensuring that coverage evaluates women leaders on their policy and competence, rather than relying on symbolic or gendered stereotypes.

6. Conclusions

This study examined how Malawian media framed Joyce Banda’s political leadership and revealed the discursive mechanisms through which gendered power is reproduced. Across coverage of her presidency and electoral campaigns, Banda was positioned through intersecting frames of competence, corruption, legitimacy, and maternal symbolism that did not simply report on her governance but actively constructed her political identity. These frames placed her within patriarchal hierarchies of authority, producing a persistent paradox in which she was permitted to embody symbolic leadership—as moral, nurturing, inspirational, and pioneering—yet systematically denied the attributes associated with ruling power, such as decisiveness, rationality, and institutional authority. In effect, Banda’s leadership was made hyper-visible, while her governing legitimacy was discursively diminished. This tension between symbolic elevation and institutional containment illustrates the core “lead but not rule” paradox, demonstrating how the media simultaneously amplifies women’s presence in politics while restricting their perceived right to exercise sovereign power.

These findings advance feminist media theory by illustrating how media discourse functions as a site of gendered boundary-making, in which femininity and political authority are constructed as mutually exclusive. The framing of Banda through the Cashgate scandal exposes the intersection of gender and moral surveillance, showing how women leaders are disciplined through narratives of corruption that feminise failure and question integrity. Conversely, maternal and philanthropic portrayals exemplify the “symbolic containment” of women’s power, in which their legitimacy is secured through emotional and moral labour but stripped of institutional agency. This dual process embodies the feminist “double bind,” where visibility comes at the cost of authority.

Theoretically, the study contributes to intersectional feminist media scholarship by situating Banda’s framing within broader postcolonial and regional dynamics. Her portrayal as a moral caregiver and national mother reflects not only gendered expectations but also racialised and cultural hierarchies that continue to define African women’s leadership in global media imaginaries. The analysis therefore underscores that gender bias in media cannot be understood in isolation—it is entangled with colonial histories of governance, neoliberal notions of political competence, and local patriarchal logics of respectability.

In practical terms, these insights highlight the urgent need for gender-sensitive journalistic ethics and editorial policies in African electoral reporting. Feminist-informed newsroom training, accountability mechanisms, and media literacy initiatives are essential to disrupt the structural reproduction of gendered stereotypes. For political communication scholars, the findings reaffirm that framing is not simply representational but constitutive—it shapes the very conditions under which women can be imagined as legitimate rulers.

Although limited to a single news outlet, the study offers a valuable foundation for comparative and cross-national research on how women’s executive power is constructed across African and global contexts. Future studies should examine how media systems, ownership structures, and cultural norms interact to sustain or challenge patriarchal discourses of leadership. Ultimately, this research affirms that the struggle for women’s political equality extends beyond the ballot box to the domain of representation itself—where the stories told about women in power continue to define the possibilities and limits of their political agency.