GENDER, MEMORY, and CIVIC IDENTITY a Dissertation By
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Texas A&M Repository LADY CITIZEN: GENDER, MEMORY, AND CIVIC IDENTITY A Dissertation by SARA R. KITSCH Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Kristan Poirot Committee Members, Tasha Dubriwny Jennifer Jones Barbour Claire Katz Head of Department, J. Kevin Barge December 2017 Major Subject: Communication Copyright 2017 Sara Rae Kitsch ABSTRACT This dissertation theorizes the first lady as a distinct embodiment of gender and citizenship. In particular, I argue that by examining the intersection of the first lady role and citizenship, we gain a more complete portrait of role’s historic, rhetorical, and public significance. Specifically, this study asks: How does the role of first lady offer a particular embodiment of citizenship in the public sphere? What are the constraints and opportunities of foregrounding the first lady as a public citizen? What are the rhetorical mechanisms that help explain how the informal role persists? Utilizing a rhetorical perspective, I begin with the premise that language, symbols, and discourse are never devoid of argument. My method, then, involves attention to the context, language, visuals, and performative acts through which the first lady role is constructed, maintained, and altered. Through three case studies I trace how the first lady role is foregrounded as a public citizen. Specifically, I examine the projection of the role onto Michelle Obama during the 2008 press coverage of the presidential election, the rhetorical exigencies that compel Lady Bird Johnson’s 1964 Whistle Stop tour, as well commemoration of the role at the Smithsonian exhibit and six presidential museums.
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