From The Ducking Stool to The White House

When you consider the relative youth of America, it was not very long ago that women had no say in public affairs. One torture method used specifically against women public speakers during Colonial times was the ducking stool. It was a chair that was hung from the end of a free-moving arm. The woman was strapped into the chair which was situated by the side of a river. The contraption would then be swung over the river by the use of the free-moving arm. The woman would then be ducked into the freezing cold water. Seems like an impossibility now when so many women hold positions of power, doesn’t it? And imagine my delight when my fourteen year old, straight-A student daughter registered a complete blank look on her face when I told her that I have two tickets to hear Gloria Steinem speak next month at Kutztown University and we would make it a mother-daughter outing. She said, “Who is she? Do I have to go?”

While we do not have such torture devices as the ducking stool anymore and young women do not have a universal understanding of the women who fought to make America more equal to both men and women, we need to be reminded that there are still subtle ducking stools all over the place.
The unfair media treatment of women candidates for higher office exact a power over women equal to if not greater than the ducking stool.

By studying the experiences of women candidates we will learn from them and develop strategies that will make future women candidates more successful. Tonight, the Women’s Campaign Forum will host a gala event: The Parties of Your Choice Gala. This event will feature authors and advocates for women in the public sphere. And next month, I’ll take my daughter to hear Gloria Steinem and she’ll learn more about what women have faced and how to make her own future everything she wants it to be.

Nichola Gutgold is associate professor at Penn State Lehigh Valley and author of Paving the Way for Madam President and Almost Madam President: Why Hillary Clinton ‘won’ in 2008. http://www.nicholagutgold.com

Women candidates as FORCES

This Thursday, March 11th the Women’s Campaign Forum,   a non-partisan national network dedicated to achieving parity for women in public office will hold a big, fancy fundraiser in New York City known as the “parties of your choice gala.”  This is the 30th year that the event has been held and  the entire reason for the event is spelled out on the cover of the invitation:  getting more women into positions of power within the government.  Also on the invitation are quotes from political powerhouses who give thanks to the Women’s Campaign Forum for helping them to become elected.  Geraldine Ferraro noted “WCF was there for me in my first campaign.”  Senator Barbara Boxer said, “It it hadn’t been for WCF, I wouldn’t have come to Washington.” 

I’ll be at the event as an author,  discussing the research I found in two books about women and the United States presidency.  I’ve been asked to condense my findings in a one-minute “elevator speech” so to speak, so here’s the ‘blog version.’  In two books,  Paving the Way for Madam President  (Lexington Books, 2008) and Almost Madam President:  Why Hillary Clinton ‘won’ in 2008 I have uncovered some successful traits of “must dos” for women presidential candidates.  Since I study speech and I’m not a political scientist, I’ll stick to the stylistic needs of women candidates. 

Dos for women to be FORCES as candidates:

 F  orceful Announcement of  your candidacy.   Declare you want to win.  Do not hesitate, because doing so will cast doubt on not only your candidacy, but your ability to govern once elected.  Women candidates must show they are in and “in to win” (not settle for the vice presidency.)

O   ut-smart everyone by knowing all the issues inside and out.  If you are not sure of something pertaining to the election, do not run until you do.  Women’s lack of knowledge is magnified on the campaign trail. 

R ock your workout and get into the best physical shape of your life.  Campaigning is tough and you must have stamina.

C ut a predictable figure in your clothes.  Develop a clothing style that is easy to wear, simple and is predictable.  Same with your hair:  easy, simple and predictable.

E xhibit rhetorical elasticity:  the public speaking style that moves from a masculine to a feminine style with ease.

S lough off the media criticism.  It will come.

This a list of “must dos” for women candidates.  We will have more women in government when they run their campaigns as the FORCES they are.

Nichola D. Gutgold is an associate professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State Lehigh Valley.  www.nicholagutgold.com

Fox News Sly Move for Sarah Palin

She was  a small town mayor, a hockey mom with a large brood who took the Alaskan political scene by storm to become the youngest and first female governor of a state known for  its rugged frontier and Native heritage.  Her inaugural rhetoric invoked a distinctive Alaskan style when she paid tribute to the first woman to win the Iditarod, Libby Riddles.  She said:  “She was a risk-taker, an outsider.  She was bold and tough.  Libby, you shattered the ice ceiling.  Thank you for plowing the way.”   

When John McCain named her as his running mate in  August  2008, news commentators were unsure of the pronunciation of her name:  was is Puh-lin or Pay-lin?  Little was known about her except what the 24/7 news cycle was putting forward in a continuous loop:  a former beauty-queen; a moose-hunter;   mother of five.  When I wrote Paving the Way for Madam President in 2006, a book that chronicles the lives of five women who ran for president, I spent a considerable part of the last chapter positing what women were in the pipeline to emerge as national figures.  At the time—four short years ago—Sarah Palin was still mayor of Wasilla.  Her name appears nowhere in a book about women and the United States presidency.

Recently, Fox News announced that Sarah Palin will become a commentator. 

While quitting the governorship was a bad political move for anyone who wants to be president, Sarah Palin may make up some of that damage with her new national presence.  What she lacked in interpersonal agility as a vice-presidential candidate, she may quickly learn to overcome with the media exposure (and training) she’ll get on Fox.  What detractors may be reluctant to admit is that Sarah Palin’s new national television opportunity may be just the preparation she needs to shed her distinctly Alaskan style for one that will play as well in Kalamazoo as it will in Ketchikan.   Those of us who understand the power of media exposure realize that Sarah Palin’s new television gig may just turn caricature Sarah into presidential candidate Sarah. Stay tuned.

Nichola D. Gutgold is associate professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State Lehigh Valley and author of Almost Madam President:  Why Hillary Clinton ‘won’ in 2008 (Lexington Books, 2009).