On 12 November 2008, Rebecca Traister wrote that ‘the
exoticism and difference of Obama’s race was all the progress the American people
could take in one election […] A threateningly competent woman might put them
over the edge’[1] The article referred in particular to
Michelle Obama’s self-portrayal, in her speech at the August 2008 Democratic
National Convention in Denver, as mother, wife, daughter and sister rather than
the successful independent woman that she was. Certainly the article passed a
far too hasty judgment on a woman that had just become first lady, but Traister
was not the only one lamenting a return to stifled gender stereotypes as
Americans wished to put behind the image of a
‘power hungry’ (the media’s favourite attribute when referring to
Hillary Clinton)Democrat first lady. In truth, the plethora of articles on Mrs
Obama’s toned arms and unlikely comparisons with Jackie Kennedy for their
passion for fashion and glamorous look, far too often have obscured her
accomplishments as first lady.
As the Obamas get ready to move out from the White House, the
Centre , on Wednesday 9th March, welcomed Dr Elizabeth ‘Jody’ Natalle,
Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro,
contributor and co-editor, with Jenni Simon, of ‘Michelle Obama: First Lady, American Rhetor’
(New York and London: Lexington Books, 2015). In an insightful and engaging
lecture, ‘Michelle Obama and the Rhetoric of American First Lady Politics’, Dr
Natalle explained why the study of Michelle Obama’s rhetorical strategies
enhances research on American first ladies. Michelle Obama is a ‘first’ first
lady on many levels. She is not only the first African American and the first
social media first lady that the country has ever had, but she has also changed
the way we look at American women, motherhood and the definition of family in
the White House.
Dr Natalle, who has a background in gender and communication
studies, demonstrated how an interdisciplinary approach can offer a deeper
understanding of American first ladies and indeed, a new angle in feminist
studies. From the fusion of rhetorical and cultural studies approaches,
Michelle Obama emerges as a first lady that has been able to use her power of
persuasion in such innovative ways that greatly benefited her agenda and that eventually
brought her to be more successful than her husband who, on the contrary, has
met with strenuous opposition on every political project.
The examples here are many, from speeches, photographs (apparently
no first lady has ever before shown her bare arms in official photographs), or
campaigns. One of the most ground-breaking strategies that Mrs Obama adopted
was the enlisting of what Dr Natalle defines ‘co-rethors’, collaborators, not necessarily from a
political background, to help her persuade her audiences. In her Let’s Move! campaign to fight childhood obesity promoting
healthy eating and exercise, the First Lady recruited the White House chef and
even Big Bird from Sesame Street. In the Join Forces campaign, which
addressed military families, Obama collaborated with Vice President’s wife Jill Biden, again
something unprecedented as first ladies don’t usually work closely with vice presidents’ wives. The idea of collaboration has been a feminist
political ideal since the 1960s, demonstrating the First Lady’s engagement with
feminist theory and the belief that change can only happen through cooperation,
which starts within the family to gradually include the whole society. The
words Michelle Obama frequently uses also highlight her attempt to build a
community effort around her campaigns: for instance, the overuse of the word
‘we’ suggests a will to include everyone, the children as well as their parents,
redefining the notion of health as something that can be accomplished
intergenerationally.
To those still fearing that Mrs Obama represents a return to
the role of first lady as primarily wife and mother, we could reply that she
used these gender stereotypes to her advantage to claim an identity that is not
subordinate to that of her husband. The
creation of the ‘mom-in-chief’ brand is an example of this, suggesting that the
first lady holds a parallel, not inferior, role to that of her husband, commander
in chief. Mrs Obama transformed the notion of Republican motherhood itself. She never made motherhood look easy and acknowledged
the need for help by bringing her mother into the White House. This is a
revolutionary act in its own right, as the presence of grandparents is common
within the African American or ethnic communities but extremely rare in white
Anglo-Saxon families and new in the presidential family model.
Through a pluralistic approach that analyses communication at
different levels, be they photographs, choice of words, symbolic actions, we
see a first lady who represents the history of America in which race, gender and
class can equally be barriers and opportunities. But Michelle Obama is not
simply a symbol. She represents the struggle of every modern woman who has to juggle
many roles and who overcomes gender, race and class stereotypes, negotiating
them to further her agenda, and welcoming the concept of diversity as a
strength rather than a divisive factor.
Not surprisingly given her communication studies background,
Dr Natalle’ s delivery was lively and engaging, generating plenty of questions
from the audience. Many concerned the present presidential campaign and what
would happen, in terms of rhetorical strategies and political/social aims if a
man (we all know who I’m talking about here) fills in the role of president’s
spouse. I have to admit that Dr Natalle’s fascinating arguments convinced me of
the fact that I, too, got side-tracked by Mrs Obama’s impeccable fashion sense,
missing the subtle subtext in her rhetorical strategies, which further persuaded
me of how interdisciplinarity can add extra dimension to our research. No
doubt the hybrid approach that Dr Natalle presented in the lecture and indeed
in the book, will be extremely useful for future research whether we will see a model or a ‘first laddie’
at the president’s side next November.
Bianca Scoti
[1] Rebecca Traister, ‘The momification of
Michelle Obama’, Salon (12 Nov., 2008) , http://www.salon.com/2008/11/12/michelle_obama_14/?utm_source=huffpost_parents&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_article
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