Rhetoric, Representation, and Display: Gender and Political Communication in America (review)

Although scholars in communication studies have begun to examine the implications of gender for political communication, we still lag behind disciplines such as political science, which have entire journals dedicated to this subject. Thus, Edwards's book is a welcome addition to the study of the intersections between gender and political communication from a rhetorical perspective. In addition, the book does not solely focus on gender as it relates to the simplistic binaries of females vs. males and femininity vs. masculinity, but rather also includes some analysis of the impact of age, race, sexual orientation, masculinity, and the media as they relate to "how political communication constitutes gender through self-presentation and representation" (xv).

Rhetoric, Representation, and Display provides excellent examples of the strengths that a rhetorical perspective can bring to the study of gender and politics. Stephen A. Klien and Margaret E. Farrar's chapter, "The Diatribe of Ann Coulter: Gendered Style, Conservative Ideology, and the Public Sphere," examines the "complex yet recurrent patterns of gendered diatribe that work to the detriment of women as legitimate political agents in the public sphere" (65). Beginning with the well-established premise that traditionally women have encountered a double-bind with regard to their entrance into the public sphere, Klien and Farrar note that Coulter's diatribes manage simultaneously to reify a public sphere gendered as masculine while regularly violating those very norms by virtue of being from a female pundit. In addition, the chapter examines her rhetoric as one that attacks feminists and feminizes the Democratic Party and progressive men. Klien and Farrar conclude that in addition to the other ways that Coulter's diatribe uses/confuses discourse about gender, the nature of her rhetoric as diatribe limits her own political legitimacy and those of other women, particularly those who are more conservative.

Paul Achter's chapter, "Racing Jesse Jackson: Leadership, Masculinity, and the Black Presidency," analyzes print news coverage of Jackson's presidential campaigns, and specifically focuses on the regular "conflation of manhood and leadership" in news discourse and the ways that this discourse has been shaped by norms grounded in whiteness (108). Achter examines problems for Jackson stemming from his media-constructed role as the "black candidate" that created multiple rhetorical exigencies for him, including the need to create a rhetorical strategy that positioned him as a "leader" who embodied an appropriate level of "manhood" when those very labels were grounded in notions of whiteness. Achter also discusses how Jackson's critics used his work on behalf of disenfranchised groups to discount his leadership ability, by focusing on his outstanding speaking abilities as a way of framing him as a mere "performer."

A chapter by Wendy Atkins-Sayre, "Governor Mom: Jane Swift and the Body Politic," examines the implications of motherhood for politicians by focusing specifically on Swift, the Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, who stepped in for governor Paul Celucci when he was tapped by George W. Bush to be the Canadian ambassador. She argues that the attacks on Swift's pregnant body served as a synecdoche for Swift herself. Atkins-Sayre does an excellent job of tracing the public commentary surrounding Swift's candidacy and concludes that once Swift was reduced to her body, her mind was ignored and her body was "held responsible" for her political actions. After this shift occurred, her pregnant body was rhetorically relegated back to the private sphere, leaving little room for her in the political sphere (133). The chapter is an interesting perspective on gender as it is literally embodied and on the impact the politics of the body can have on female political candidates.

In Teresa Bergman's chapter, "Political Symbolism in Chisolm '72: Unbought and Unbossed," she argues that Chisolm '72 is an expository format documentary, or one that serves to advance a particular perspective and uses "sensory synecdoche," which expands "the definition of sound bite to include the images and soundtracks that...