UCLA CSW Update Newsletter

Title Media Representations of

Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1kg651b3

Author Brannon, Taquesha

Publication Date 2011

eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California By Taquesha Brannon

CSW u p d atJANUARY e2011 Media Representations of Michelle Obama

From the Angry/Strong Black Woman to the New American Icon

s shown by [Michelle Obama] is at the center of a multimedia charm Athis excerpt offensive that may be the most closely managed spousal from an article by Jodi Kan- rollout in presidential campaign history. On Monday tor in the New night, Mrs. Obama delivered a prime-time speech at the York Times, the Democratic National Convention, preceded by an intricately management and construc- made biographical video, a touch usually afforded to tion of Michelle candidates, not their wives. Obama’s image – Jodi Kantor, New York Times during the 2008 presidential campaign was elaborately or- chestrated and meticulously calculated. It was important to create a ‘charm of- fensive’ that rivaled the efforts to conjure support for presidential candidates, ‘not 22 csw update: january 2011 and postulates that the observed increase gry’ and ‘strong’ reinforce the association in her favorability is related to a change in- between blackness, masculinity, and bad- earlier media representations that empha- ness by presenting images of black wom- sized her black, racial identity to later media en that are masculinized and stigmatized representations that highlighted her female, (Madison 2009; West 1995; Collins 2005). gender identity. Building on research in sev- In the current study, I ask how these ste- eral disciplines that demonstrates that femi- reotypical representations of black woman- ninity and womanhood are constructs that hood mapped on to Michelle Obama’s iden- are highly associated with whiteness (Hull tity in the media over time. I postulate that et al. 1982; Goff et al. 2008; Palmer 1983), media constructions of her identity which I investigate how media representations of are consistent with these stereotypical rep- Michelle Obama have changed over time. resentations of black womanhood occurred Further, I examine how such changes might early in the campaignand coincided with an relate to U.S. understandings of gender that unfavorable public attitude toward her.. have historically been predicated on partic- By contrast, I propose that media con- ular representations that have excluded and structions of Michelle Obama’s identity vilified African American women. These which are consistent with white womanhood their wives’, was a motivated response to questions are informed by the work of Hunt occured later in the campaign, when the negative portrayals of Mrs. Obama that (2005) and Hall (1996) which conceptu- public’s attitude toward her became more served to threaten ’s histor- alizes race in the U.S. through chains of favorable. I examine ‘ideal mother’, ‘fashion ic campaign. As evidenced by favorability equivalence, a representation of the black- icon’, and the ‘first lady role’ as representa- ratings (shown above) that nearly doubled white binary that links blackness with bad- tions of white womanhood that are feminized in one year from 32% (3/10/08) to 63% ness and whiteness with goodness. and endorsed in the media (Roberts 1993; (3/1/2009) in the NBC News/ Merging these insights on race and gen- Burns 2008). Over time, representations of Journal Polls, these elaborate and carefully der, it follows that whiteness is a construct American womanhood have been mapped crafted attempts to manage Mrs. Obama’s that is linked to femininity and goodness; on to Mrs. Obama’s identity in the media. image successfully transformed her from a whereas, blackness is a construct that is The change in construction over time has potential threat to an astonishing asset to linked to masculinity and badness. The coincided with (and I argue, significantly the campaign. popular media which often contains repre- influenced), the increasingly favorable per- This essay examines the shift in the con- sentations of black females that invoke ste- ception of her by the public, as 2009 NBC struction of Mrs. Obama’s image over time, reotypes that emphasize traits such as ‘an- News/Wall Street Journal Polls have shown.

23 csw update: january 2011 For this study, I used content analysis to measure the frequency of representa- tions that have mapped on to Mrs. Obama’s Given that as the first African American First Lady, Michelle racial (i.e., ‘angry’ and ‘strong’) or gender Obama is uniquely positioned to shatter black female (i.e., ‘ideal mother’, ‘fashion icon’, and the stereotypes, media representations that reinforce the black- ‘first lady role’) identity in both the Wash- ington Post and . In white binary dampen this potential. order to assess changes in Mrs. Obama’s image, the time frame from February 10th, 2007 to December 31st, 2009 was split into four distinct periods. The first time period is when Barack Obama declared his candi- First Lady, Michelle Obama is uniquely po- port my hypothesis because these earlier dacy for president up until he was elected sitioned to shatter black female stereotypes, media representations of Mrs. Obama as an as the presumptive nominee for president media representations that reinforce the angry/strong black woman focused on her (February 10th, 2007 to June 3rd, 2008). black-white binary dampen this potential. black, racial identity; her favorability ratings The second time period is after Mr. Obama Such that constructions of Mrs. Obama’s were low during these periods. is declared presumptive nominee for presi- identity that uphold the black-white binary During the third time period, ideal mother dent up until the election (June 4th, 2008 to by likening blackness to negative associa- and fashion icon were the dominant frames November 4th, 2008). The third time period tions and whiteness to positive associations for both newspapers. Additionally during is after the election up until Mr. Obama’s serve to sustain the notion that blackness the fourth time period, the dominant frame first six months in office (November 5, 2008 is bad/inferior, whereas whiteness is good/ for both newspapers was the first lady role/ to June 30, 2009). The fourth time period superior. performance. These findings support my is the last six months of Mr. Obama’s first The data revealed that the way Michelle hypothesis that because these later media year in office (July st1 , 2009 to December Obama was portrayed has changed over representations of Mrs. Obama as an ideal 31st, 2009). Additionally, articles from both time in and the New mother, a fashion icon, and a favorable first newspapers were analyzed in order to ob- York Times. For both newspapers in this lady focusedon to her gender identity in- serve the presence of the following four pos- study, angry/strong black woman was the stead of her black, racial identity; her favor- sible frames: 1) angry/strong black woman; dominant frame during the first and second ability ratings were increasing during these 2) ideal mother; 3) fashion icon; and 4) first time periods; however, angry/strong black periods. lady role/performance. woman was not prevalent within the third This study showcases how race and gen- Given that as the first African American and fourth time periods. These findings sup- der are conceptualized through binaries in

24 csw update: january 2011 The press is highly influential in shaping In order to make Mrs. Obama more appealing to the public’s opinions and the dominance of these representations in the press played a mainstream Americans, campaign managers accentuated role in the public’s low acceptance of her her female identity rather than her racial identity. This was and campaign managers’ urgent need to re- achieved by creating an intervention that would disconnect shape her image in the media. The push to revamp Mrs. Obama’s image her from mapping on to blackness. as an angry/strong black woman bolsters the belief that stigmatized behavior asso- ciated with blackness should be controlled and policed in society. Looking back at the chains of equivalence, which links negative the United States, and how these binaries tually exclusive. Earlier media represen- characteristics associated with blackness, affect the ways in which black women are tations of Michelle Obama were linked to Mrs. Obama was seen as “African, sav- treated in this country. The racial binary black female stereotypes, which empha- age, emotional, inferior, and slave” (Hunt equates whiteness with being good/supe- sized her racialized gender identity. These 2005:3) when she was portrayed as an an- rior and blackness with being bad/inferior, representations of Mrs. Obama as an an- gry/strong black woman. In order to make whereas the gender binary associates male- gry/strong black woman excluded her from Mrs. Obama more appealing to mainstream ness with masculinity and femaleness with the traditional ideals of white womanhood Americans, campaign managers accentuat- femininity. It is important to note that these and these images also mapped on to her ed her female identity rather than her racial binaries are not mutually exclusive because black identity because she was viewed as identity. This was achieved by creating an there are different social meanings attached masculine and deviant in the media. Thus, intervention that would disconnect her from to what it means to be a white male ver- the consequences of these images resulted mapping on to blackness. This intervention sus a black male or a white woman versus a in Mrs. Obama receiving negative press and involved reshaping Mrs. Obama’s image so black woman in society. Specifically in the low favorability ratings. For example, the that she would map on to white womanhood. case of white and black women, the former portrayal of Mrs. Obama as an angry/strong The underlying problem with this interven- have been socially constructed as feminine, black woman was the dominant frame for tion is that it reinforces the black-white bi- whereas the latter has been socially con- articles in the Washington Post and the New nary in which blackness is bad/deviant and structed as masculine. York Times from the time Mr. Obama de- whiteness is good/superior. For example, Results from this study further highlights clared his candidacy up until the election Mrs. Obama was rewarded with ascending how racial and gender binaries are not mu- (February 10, 2007 to November 4, 2008). favorability ratings and positive press when

25 csw update: january 2011 she was portrayed as an ideal mother, a sion of beauty standards. As a fashion icon, DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press. Collins, Patricia Hill. 2005. Black Sexual Politics: fashion icon, and a favorable first lady. This Mrs. Obama disrupts the myth that black African Americans, Gender, and the New Rac- notion is supported by the study’s results, women are not marketable enough to rep- ism. New York & London: Routledge. which illustrate that the angry/strong black resent high-end fashion, an arena typically Goff, Phillip A., Margaret A. Thomas, and Matthew Christian Jackson. 2008. “‘Ain’t I a Woman?’: woman frame became significantly less reserved for white women. Mrs. Obama has Towards an Intersectional Approach to Person prevalent as the ideal mother, the fashion made history by appearing on the cover of Perception and Group-Based Harms.” Sex icon, and the first lady role/performance Vogue, an elite fashion magazine, and this Roles 59:392-403. Hall, Stuart. 1996. “Race, the Floating Signifier,” frames became the dominant frames of ar- achievement brings forth the opportunity for videotaped lecture. Northhampton, MA: Media ticles in the Washington Post and the New more black women to be shown as glamor- Education Foundation. Hull, Gloria T., Scott, Patricia Bell Scott, and York Times from the time after the election ous and beautiful in the media. Finally, Mrs. Barbara Smith. 1982. But Some of Us a Brave: to the end of the Obamas’ first year in of- Obama’s role as the first African American Black Women’s Studies. New York: The Femi- fice (November 5, 2008, to December 31, first lady is a major victory because she nist Press. Hunt, Darnell M. 2005. Channeling Blackness: 2009). has been granted entrance into the ultimate Studies on Television and Race in America. On the other hand, the framing of Mi- embodiment of “True Womanhood” and the New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc. chelle Obama as an ideal mother, a fashion high visibility of this role gives mainstream Kantor, Jodi. 2008. “Michelle Obama, Now a icon, and a favorable first lady in the news- Americans a chance to see her as an excep- Softer Presence, Adopts Twin Agendas.” The paper articles also broadens society’s view tional mother, a fashionable trendsetter, and New York Times, August 26, pp. 14. (Re- trieved from Lexis/Nexis Academic on Janu- of black women and these positive repre- a supportive wife. ary 20, 2010.) sentations of Mrs. Obama serves an oppor- Madison, D. Soyini. 2009. “Crazy Patriotism and tunity for dismantling negative representa- Taquesha Brannon earned her M.A. in Afro-Amer- Angry (Post) Black Women.”Communication ican Studies in 2010. She was awarded a CSW and Critical/Cultural Studies 6 (3):321-326. tions of black womanhood. First of all, this Palmer, Phyllis Marynick. 1983. “White Women/ travel grant to present her thesis findings on First framing of Mrs. Obama as an ideal mother Black Women: The Dualism of Female Iden- Lady Michelle Obama at the National Council for tity and Experience in the United States.” places her in a distinctive position because Black Studies conference in New Orleans, LA. Feminist Studies 9 (1): 151-170. she serves as a model for helping to shat- Roberts, Dorothy E. 1993. “Racism and Patriar- ter the stereotypical dichotomy of showcas- chy in the Meaning of Motherhood.” American Photo credit: On page 22, official portrait of First Lady University Journal of Gender and the Law ing black women as bad mothers and white Michelle Obama taken by Joyce N. Boghosian, White 1:1-3. women as good mothers. Secondly, the House photographer. West, Carolyn M. 1995. “Mammy, Sapphire, and Jezebel: Historical Images of Black Women framing of Mrs. Obama as a fashion icon and their Implications for Psychotherapy.” is a great feat because this representation REFERENCES Psychotherapy 32: 458-466. Burns, Lisa M. 2008. First Ladies and the Fourth has the potential to expand society’s vi- Estate: Press Framing of Presidential Wives.

26 csw update: january 2011