The East Wing: First Ladies‟ Mediated Messages, Media Strategies and Gendered Discourse Lee Betancourt Villanova University Honors Department Communication Department Political Science Department Advisor: Dr. Heidi Rose, Communication Reader: Dr. Matthew Kerbel, Political Science Defense: May 6, 2010 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgments .........................................................................................................................2 Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................3 The First Lady’s Place in the White House: An Introduction ..................................................4 A Qualitative Study .......................................................................................................................8 Feminists and the First Lady: An Unusual Pairing .................................................................11 Political Communication Strategy and the First Lady Role ....................................................13 Media Framing and Consequences for the White House .........................................................16 First Lady Studies: A Synopsis ...................................................................................................17 Methodology: Parameters of the Study .....................................................................................18 Lady Bird Johnson .......................................................................................................................22 Rosalynn Carter ...........................................................................................................................22 Hillary Clinton .............................................................................................................................23 The First Lady as Performer ......................................................................................................23 Crafting Identity, Through Performance, Against Society’s Backdrop .................................27 Consequence of the Rhetorical Presidency for First Ladies ....................................................31 Gender as a Lightning Rod .........................................................................................................36 The First Lady’s Image within the Larger White House Image .............................................46 Consequences of Multiple Roles within Identity Management ...............................................50 Disempowerment as a Consequence of Identity Management ................................................59 Concluding Thoughts: Playing with Power, Paradoxical Roles and the Future ...................64 Appendix:......................................................................................................................................69 Works Cited ..................................................................................................................................72 2 Acknowledgments I would like to thank the people who gave me the inspiration for this thesis, who guided me through the past two semesters and who have always been so patient with me, not only over the past few semesters, but for my entire life. I first thought of the idea for this study in Dr. Rose‟s Qualitative Research Methods class, and I want to thank her for giving me such a detailed understanding of feminist rhetorical criticism, for guiding my early thought process on this project last year, and, of course, for agreeing to be my advisor. She has given up many of her busy hours to read my drafts and listen to my ideas, and for that I am very grateful. Thanks also to Dr. Kerbel, my second reader, whose 2008 Election class sparked my interest in political communication and taught me to examine media messages critically. The Honors Department has enabled me to pursue my interests and has given me such a unique academic experience here at Villanova; I will begin and end my college career in the Honors seminar room! Of course, I also want to thank my parents and my sister, Holly, for always pushing me to achieve, for supporting me when I got overwhelmed and, most recently, for listening to me stress about this endeavor over the phone! Looking back, I realize that I need to especially thank my Mom for consistently yet gently sharing feminist perspectives on the world; I may have resisted at first, but now these have become the cornerstone for the paper that culminates my college career! I would also like to thank Raul Garcia, who was always there to give me feedback on my paper, spent many 3 a.m. nights in the library with me and helped me to keep a positive outlook on this project, and so many other things in life. Writing a thesis is certainly hard work, but working on it while Raul and many of my friends worked on their own was a great motivator this year. 3 Abstract The institution of the “modern” First Lady has itself changed little despite the many different women who have held the role. How have First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Clinton attempted to leave their mark on the position? How do they rectify the public nature of the role with their personal identities? How have the media chosen to frame First Ladies, and has this focus shifted over time? Using feminist rhetorical criticism and a lens of the First Lady as an instrumental performer, as illuminated by Erving Goffman‟s identity management framework, this study analyzes both the media‟s framing of stories on First Ladies and the First Ladies‟ attempts to position themselves in the media and to the American public. 4 The First Lady’s Place in the White House: An Introduction History shows that the role of President of the United States is largely undefined; the 43 men who have held the role 44 times have enacted the Executive Branch to their liking. Hidden behind the president‟s shadow is another role — less definable, less accountable, yet no less active or consequential. The First Lady, with an office in the East Wing of the White House, is considered an important part of the administration — she is awarded a physical space of recognition. This space, distinct from the chaos of the West Wing, is also determinably different. Perhaps the location belies the First Lady‟s second-class status in the hierarchy of the Executive Branch; she is not “worthy” of a West Wing office. Or perhaps this separate space metaphorically carves out a separate identity for the First Lady, apart from the political deal making and policy crafting of the West Wing. Either way, the physical location of the First Lady‟s business office sets the premise for her entire role. As a White House fixture, the First Lady is a political figure, but without defined political roles, she is clearly separate from the President‟s immediate advisors. Within this paradigm though, First Ladies have often tilted the balance. Some place more weight in the political camp, others in the social camp, and still others enact a separate sphere that combines both — forming an aside to the presidency that is very much its own political and ceremonial entity, a sort of microcosm of the presidency itself. In other instances, First Ladies have chosen to be entirely separate and completely private, withdrawing from public criticism but also eliminating their opportunities to influence history, policy and society. This model, however, is likely a thing of the past; when today‟s women — First Ladies certainly included — are given opportunities, they grab them and make things happen. 5 Although the First Lady holds a political function, the role is not inherently political because she is not elected. The role of First Lady is also cultural — as in political culture, Washington culture, American culture and the larger cultural place of women in American society. In modern times, though, the cultural has tended to become political, so a First Lady associated with culture first and foremost still has important consequences on society. The position of First Lady, when not tied to a specific individual, is an abstraction. We often reify it in our minds by thinking of a specific First Lady when we are primed to do so; over time, we have attributed specific characteristics to the position that enable us to make it more concrete. Because it is an abstraction, the position of First Lady is not unlike a fictional character brought to life onstage. The character exists, in ambiguity, but with some generally understood, accepted, and defined notions. Each person who inhabits the role, though, amplifies certain notions of the ambiguous character, and diminishes others. Through performance, each person brings parts of themselves to the role. They change the overall role, but for the most part, they put the expected characteristics into practice, allowing these ideas to proliferate and continue, while enacting and adding to a “script” of sorts for future First Ladies. Complementing the idea of performance is the idea that individuals, whether First Ladies or the average American man or woman, are shaped first and foremost, by society. No person can separate his or her life from the lives of others; the resulting shared experiences form societal interaction. People certainly have the agency to shape themselves, but often, attempts to do so are less successful than we would like to believe because we are prone to spend most of our efforts thwarting negativity surrounding our identities.