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Copy of The Balancing Act of First Ladyship
The Surrogate Woman: The Balancing Act of First Ladyship
The Roles of
the First Lady
1. wife and mother
2. public figure and celebrity
3. the nation's social hostess
4. the symbol of American womanhood
5. White House manager and preservationist
6. campaigner
7. social and political advocate
8. presidential spokesperson
9. presidential and political party booster
10. diplomat
11. political and presidential partner
(Borelli 2014)
How to be all things to all people
Each First Lady has balanced these roles differently, and with that, balanced private sphere v. public sphere - wife and political wife - differently.
What kind of political wife is she?
“Certain roles and their attendant behaviors are, thus, more likely than other roles and behaviors to attract elite and/or popular supports, whereas others are more likely to founder against one or more of the audience constraints that are part of the political ecology in which any First Lady operates” (Wekkin 2000, 601).
1. The conscript
2. The shield
3. The courtesan
4. The consigliere
5. The regent
Why does this even matter?
Symbol of Womanhood?
The First Lady's deviation or adherence to the "ideal" form of representation is based on...
“the first lady‘s challenges and choices reflect those of women in American society, and cultural beliefs about femininity and feminism are encapsulated in public reaction to the first ladyship” (Hummer 2010, 404).
her portrayal of gender symbolism
Whether that representation is accepted dictates how well she personifies the cultural everywoman.
The Cultural Everywoman
Who is she?
What is she like/not like?
What does she do/not do?
“The cultural everywoman ideal is an essential component of the first lady‘s position that obliges her to uphold the dominant cultural belief about American womanhood in all of her acts of political representation. Its process is expounded through the interaction between symbolic and descriptive representation” (Hummer 2010, 403).