Women's Political Firsts and Symbolic Representation

The extent to which politics is still a "man's game" is made evident every time a top political office has a female holder for the first time. These incredibly revealing moments may give a new social meaning to women in politics-women's political presence- and women and politics-gendered social constructions about women's capacity to rule. This article explores the types of gendered mediation underpinning the representation of first-ever women serving in historically male-dominated political offices in Spain. It shows that gender media frames are pervasive, which may lead to an effective annihilation of women's symbolic representation.