Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 48 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-48).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Cynthia Hoffner, committee chair; Mary Stuckey, Mchael Bruner, committee members. Electronic text (65 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Apr. 26, 2007; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-59).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2007. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-84). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-84). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-84). Also available via the World Wide Web.

This study examined the rhetoric of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Specifically, this analysis explored the relationship between Clinton's rhetoric and her public image. In addressing this issue, Foss' (1989) framework for feminist criticism was used to examine three key components: 1) the type of gender roles that Clinton describes and advocates in her rhetoric; 2) her gender portrayal of the first lady role; and 3) whether any alterations in her enactment of the first lady have helped or hindered the feminist cause. Clinton's rhetoric is focused on the empowerment of women, their children, and their families. Clinton's rhetorical perspective is aligned with a liberal feminist ideology and declares that women should make their own choices and should not fall victim to traditional patriarchal values and societal expectations. This analysis further reveals that Clinton combines feminine and masculine rhetorical styles to overcome the contradictory expectations that are placed upon women speakers. This analysis indicates that Clinton's image and role as first lady has fluctuated as she has grappled with societal expectations. Throughout Clinton's tenure in the White House, America has become more comfortable with her redesigned role as first lady. This analysis contributes to the lives of women by providing a model of a female rhetor who is successful despite the confines of a patriarchal society. In addition, this examination also legitimizes a woman's right to fight for equality and to use alternative ways to raise a family. Further, this analysis indicates the need to expand communication models to encompass a rhetor's blend of communication styles. / Department of Speech Communication

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 47 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-44).

As the 2008 presidential election nears, the Democrats get closer and closer to supporting one of two presidential nominees—a Black man or a White woman—both of whom represent demographic groups that have yet to be seen occupying the White House. This creates a unique opportunity for observing the process of transformation and the fluidity of one of some of our most fundamental concepts (i.e., `president' and `woman') through the print media. Therefore, this thesis examines the process of transformation by analyzing the role of Hillary Clinton's gender performances in TIME Magazine.This thesis examines Hillary Clinton's thirteen appearances on the cover of TIME and the corresponding articles, between 1992 and 2008. Through a qualitative content analysis, this analysis combines Judith Butler's theory of gender performitivity and the concept of subversion with more traditional conceptions of male and female gender roles, a in order to assess the subversive potential of Hillary Clinton's mediated gender performances. Specifically, this thesis addresses the following research questions:RQ 1: In what ways does Hillary simultaneously embody both male and femalegender performances?RQ 2: How do mediated gender performances differ from immediate gender performances?RQ 3: How do these performances work to produce her public identity?RQ 4: Do Hillary's gender performances subvert the heterosexual matrix? Or do they reinforce it?This analysis contributes to the theory of gender performance by demonstrating the potential for a methodological application based on the logical consequence of reconstructing gender—even if such reconstruction is based on false pretenses. Furthermore, it contributes to the communication discipline by offering practical guidelines for analyzing and predicting subversive potential. / Department of Communication Studies

The role of a political leader often is associated with the emotional attributes of a man, and there is empirical evidence that media coverage reinforces culture-specific emotion display rules for politicians. Feminist communication scholarship also has shown the gendered assumptions manifest in mediated discourses. This dissertation explores the relationship between gender, culture and candidates’ emotionality by examining and comparing news media coverage of the emotional management of Chile’s Michelle Bachelet and the United States’ Hillary Clinton, two female candidates with a viable bid for the presidency in their respective countries. Using a discourse analysis of 1,676 items from national newspapers, news magazines and television newscasts, this study found that cultural differences influence the discursive constructions of these women candidates’ emotionality. In the case of Bachelet, she was deemed as a soft, empathic and ultimately “feminine” candidate who needed to toughen up to convey authority and convince voters that she had the skills, in addition to the charm, to lead a country. In the case of Clinton, she was described mainly as a cold and unsympathetic contender, an unwomanly woman with too much ambition to be likable, and who was portrayed either as fake or frail when being more emotionally open. These mediated discourses suggest the media favored determined understandings for a woman’s place and role, reinforcing socially-shared and culturally-bound meanings about gendered identities. Informed by a feminist theoretical framework, the discussion addresses how these mediated discourses on Bachelet and Clinton illustrate the power of culturally-sanctioned sexism in Chile and the United States to make of gender a restrictive force that keeps women out of the realms of politics and policy. / text