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The Cult of First Ladyhood: Controlling Images of White Womanhood in the Role of the First Lady

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2019

Megan Handau  and
Evelyn M. Simien
Megan Handau
Affiliation:
Office of U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes
Evelyn M. Simien
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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Abstract

In recent decades, scholars have begun to analyze the role of the first lady in American society. Though the relationship between gender ideologies and this identity has been analyzed, little attention has been paid to how other aspects of the first ladies’ identities could shape the way the public and the first ladies themselves view their role. In this article, we offer an intersectional analysis that considers historical notions of hegemonic femininity in relation to race. We assert that the role of the first lady is a raced-gendered institution that produces a controlling image of white womanhood that simultaneously privileges white femininity and subordinates black womanhood. We conduct an analysis of the autobiographies of six first ladies: Edith Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, “Lady Bird” Johnson, Rosalynn Carter, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama.

Keywords

Intersectionalityfirst ladiesMichelle Obamahegemonic femininitygender roleswhite womanhood
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 15 , Special Issue 3: Special Symposium on Michelle Obama , September 2019 , pp. 484 - 513
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2019 

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