Governing Codes: Gender, Metaphor, and Political Identity (review)

On November 10, 2006, three days after a historic election in which Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years and Rep. Nancy Pelosi was positioned to become the first female Speaker of the House, the Washington Post published a feature article emphasizing not only this historic first for women in politics, but also Pelosi's choice of a Giorgio Armani suit. Likewise, in media interviews and biographical information released to the press, Pelosi and her staff highlighted not only on her political skills and accomplishments, but also that she is a mother of five and soon-to-be grandmother of six, possibly to counter some Republican charges that a radical, San Francisco liberal was about to be second in line to the presidency.

The coverage of Pelosi's first provides a poignant and pertinent example of the issues explored in much greater depth in Karrin Vasby Anderson's and Kristina Horn Sheeler's book, Governing Codes: Gender, Metaphor, and Political Identity. In their introduction, they state, "This study examines the role language plays in either impeding or fostering women's agency in the contemporary U.S. political sphere. Although we do not discount the economic and sociological forces that have brought about change in the political landscape, we emphasize that no one has access to political processes apart from language" (4). The book accomplishes this goal of identifying the force of language, especially metaphors, to shape the public identities of women leaders. Anderson and Sheeler's analysis demonstrates the power of metaphor as both a constraint and rhetorical resource for women leaders' achievement of pragmatic, political goals.

The book features case studies of four prominent women from contemporary U.S. politics: Ann Richards, Christine Todd Whitman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Elizabeth Dole. These four women represent both major political parties, and their public performances include roles as candidates, governors, and political spouses. According to Anderson and Sheeler, "What is striking about each of these cases are the ways in which metaphor played a central role in the construction of public identity for each woman" (2). The authors identify four dominant metaphoric frameworks that historically have influenced the media coverage of political women: the pioneer, the puppet, the hostess/ beauty queen, and the unruly woman. Their study includes an analysis of the ways in which these metaphoric clusters play out in the public discourse about these women as well as the ways in which these political women "react strategically to the media frames that encapsulate their public personae" (3).

Methodologically, Anderson and Sheeler explain that these four metaphoric clusters emerged as key vehicles from their analysis of the public discourse about and by these four women leaders and established a useful topology by which to structure their findings. But as with any typology, once it is established, critics can come to be constrained themselves in trying to make everything they find fit into the categories they have created. At times, this tension emerges in Anderson's and Sheeler's analysis. Although the four metaphoric clusters provide a seemingly tidy framework for the analysis, at times it is clear that the authors' analysis cannot be easily contained by these four clusters. An example of this methodological tension appears in the analysis of Whitman's public image. Anderson and Sheeler discuss both the media's and Whitman's use of sports metaphors to emphasize her athleticism and to draw on the connotation of strength associated with these metaphors. The insights drawn from their analysis, especially how these metaphors complicate the "puppet" and "hostess/beauty queen" metaphors of her early political identity, are often compelling. But the reader cannot help but feel as though the larger four-cluster framework constrains the analysis more than it aids it, especially as the authors spend time explaining how the sports language can be viewed as part of the...