Through a discourse analysis of the media reports on these two
banking executives during this time of crisis, the male CEO
was represented as a James Bond heroic change agent. On the
contrary, the relational and nurturing sides of the female CEO’s
leadership were highlighted. For the female CEO, the media
focused on a “discourse of difference” (Liu et al., 2015, p. 249)
which stressed her feminine identity. In this study, authenticity
was associated with “...stereotypes of what it means to be a
man (independent, strong, active and decisive) and a woman
(nurturing, caring, outgoing and communal”; Liu et al., 2015,
p. 249). When the male CEO acted decisively, he was seen as
being authentic. When the female CEO acted decisively, she
was portrayed as inauthentic. The authors concluded that the
social construction of authenticity was dependent on the leaders
performing authenticity aligned with the appropriate gender
norms.