The public veil: Two millennia of strong women in politics
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2019
Department/School
Leadership and Counseling
Publication Title
Gender and Diversity: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
Abstract
As women take on increasingly prominent roles in politics, it is critical to understand the gendered nature of public voice within the ideological messaging process as well as its historical roots. This chapter contends that, in order to gain a legitimate voice in politics, a field that continues to be dominated by men, females must project a public yet carefully “veiled” image that is both “strong” and “feminine” in their writing and speaking. They must appear to be “strong women”. To create this image, they must balance male expectations of authoritative appearance with male expectations of appropriate femininity. Based on a comparative analysis of ancient Greek and Roman writers alongside modern female political voices, this chapter illustrates how women achieve this balance using four strategies in their written and spoken texts: conveying a constrained sexuality; using masculine metaphors; addressing feminine themes; and employing gender inversion. These strategies can be characterized as “gender bilinguality” and this bilinguality has been present since classical antiquity.
Recommended Citation
Slough, H., & Anderson, D. (2019). The public veil: Two millennia of strong women in politics. In Information Resources Management Association (Ed.), Gender and diversity: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-6912-1.ch092
Comments
D. Anderson is a faculty member in EMU's School of Leadership and Counseling.
*H. Slough is an EMU student.