Listening to Women on the Right ─ Communication Strategies of Today Female Republican Politicians

For much of the past century, public discourse about gender and politics has been driven largely by progressive women—those voices on the left that support policies widely considered to be pro-women. Little scholarly attention has been paid to the dialogue of conservative women, and what literature there is tends to focus on specific issues rather than fundamentals like social and political identity. The authors focus on this under-studied yet rhetorically interesting group and their approach to political speech. The narratives and policy positions of Condoleezza Rice, Nikki Haley, Teri Lynn Land, Susana Martinez, Joni Ernst and others are examined for the ways in which they frame their political images as women in the GOP.

Rachel Friedman is an associate professor of Communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who often publishes in the areas of women in GOP politics. Her other research broadly examines cultural pedagogy and gender communication. She lives in Port Orange, Florida. Nichelle McNabb is a profesor at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. Her research interests include political communication and instructional communication. Kristen L. McCauliff is an associate professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana where she teaches classes in rhetoric, media, politics and feminism. Her research interests generally occur in and around those same areas.