This collection examines the ways in which women have used political rhetoric and political discourse to provide leadership, or assert their right to leadership, at the national level. While over the years women have broken through traditional roles, they are still underrepresented in political leadership. In this text, scholars consider the various factors that continue to restrict political leadership opportunities for women as well as some of the ways in which individual women have strategically sought to enact political power and leadership for themselves. The contributors analyze various case studies of leadership positions at the national level, looking at women who have run, been nominated to run, or appointed to national positions. The interdisciplinary approach lends itself to: rhetoric; political rhetoric; political discourse; leadership studies; women's studies; gender issues; satire; pop culture.
Introduction Diane M. Blair I. Initial Women Moving Forward: A Fight for Language Chapter 1: Epideictic Memories: The Argument for Spatial Agency in Frances E. Willard's A Wheel within a Wheel Kristie Fleckenstein Chapter 2: "Shall America Retain the Faith of Our Fathers?": Aimee Semple McPherson and the California Gubernatorial Campaign of 1934 William Carney Chapter 3: From The Good Ship Lollipop to the White House: Ethos and the Invitational Rhetoric of Shirley Temple Black Sara Hillin II. A Shift to Modern Day: A Look at Leadership Chapter 4: Averting Crisis: Women as Heads of State and Rhetorical Action Rebecca S. Richards Chapter 5: Leadership and the [Vice] Presidency: The Nomination Acceptance Speeches of Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin Michele Lockhart Chapter 6: No Laughing Matter: Saturday Night Live's Portrayal of Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin Kathleen Mollick Chapter 7: Meghan McCain is GOP Proud: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Political Discourse Surrounding Feminist Leadership in the Republican Party Nichelle D. McNabb and Rachel B. Friedman III. Women and Politics: 2012 and the Future of Women Leaders in America Chapter 8: The Female Email: Examining the Leadership and Rhetoric of Female Representations of the 2012 Obama Campaign Alison Novak and Janet Johnson Chapter 9: Western Women's Ethos and a Response to Privilege: Advocacy in Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Women's Rights Are Human Rights" Nancy Myers Chapter 10: Media and Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign: A Model for Understanding Construction of Collective Memory Mary Tucker-McLaughlin and Kenneth Campbell Chapter 11: Electing the Commander in Chief: The Gender Regime and Hillary Clinton's 2008 Campaign Rhetoric Maria Daxenbichler and Rochelle Gregory
