The Trouble with Gender: Media Policy and Gender Mainstreaming in the European Union

Abstract: This article explores the ways in which gender mainstreaming (GM) approaches have failed to become integrated in the EU media policy framework and seeks to analyse the reasons why. It argues that the degree of implementation of GM in the media policy area depends on the dynamics of structural power determinants, in particular the structure of opportunities of the DG in charge of the policy area and the institutional structures in general, as well as the influence of particular interests upon the policy process. The article focuses on two of the areas identified by the UN Platform for Action in 1995 supported by the EU: mis/representation of women in the media and women's participation in the decision-making process.