Introduction
Although the role of First Lady has never been clearly defined, she has become a prominent figure in the political and social life of the nation. The prominence of the position provides a platform of influence on popular behavior and opinion; providing a model for how women should act, speak, and dress. The influence of first ladies has changed and evolved over time, becoming increasingly more instrumental and significant in the last century. As the first president’s wife to name her own press secretary, Jacqueline Kennedy worked hard to build and protect her family’s image in the media. This focus on media can be examined through the CBS coverage of her White House tour, which further emulated her front stage behavior, to the
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The conferences aimed to “reflected news deemed suitable for women's and society pages" (Beasley 11). This began the changing of the traditional role of First Lady and women in media as a whole. Women were able to have opinions on important issues and a voice in society. This greatly impacted women who would later follow her shoes, such as Julia Tyler, Florence Harding, and Grace Coolidge. These three female leaders were known for their positive acceptance in the press. This differed from those who did not successfully fill the role of caring wife, and therefore were criticized greatly by the press. This makes it clear that the First Lady needs to find a balance of having an influence without making it clear to the public that she has true control over the political power of their husbands. This can all tie into the role of Jacqueline Kennedy through her publicly expressed view of power in her position. She states, “There are two kinds of power. Power of the world and power of the bed. I want power of the bed” (Goldstone 10). This shows that Kennedy is more interested in privilege to command and be obeyed within her home, than she is in influencing affairs of the state. This look into First Ladies in the media can also be seen through those who chose not to challenge media relations and gender stereotypes. Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower are representations of those who assumed the role of traditional wives and mothers, putting them perfectly inline with the suburban housewife stereotype (Beasley 61). These two women also represented the common Middle American focus of seeking a glorified family life. This housewife mystique can be observed through the description of Eisenhower as “extremely feminine, in a rather sweet, clinging-vine way (Beasley 67). The fulfillment of this stereotypical role by both predecessors
Kalley Ravndalen Essay 2 In the historical study, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, the author Elaine Tyler May conveys her argument to be on how people embraced the dominant gender roles and family models in regard to the Cold War. May uses the word containment to describe a response to postwar developments and she also shares how people adhered to this idea because it was a guide to lead them in their own personal and political lives. Domestic containment was occurring most commonly in the homes because most of the decisions that people had made were because of their fears of the cold war world. People of the time believed that “Containment was the key to security,” and this eventually became known as one the goals
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, was the First Lady to President John F. Kennedy from 1961-1963 before his assassination. She inspired the world culturally and politically. Jackie Kennedy not only goes down in history for being a First Lady of the United States, but she was also a loyal wife, brave mother, fashion icon, successful editor, and a cultural inspiration. Before her marriage and time serving as First Lady to the United States, Jackie was very accomplished and grew up from a wealthy family.
American Governement 170: Profile Paper: Hilary Clinton When we first were asked to write about an American politicians, the first one that always come to my mind are Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin, because of all their achievement and characteristics as good politicians and charismatic human beings, but we need to write about a”living” politician of the nowadays United States. My choice is Hilary Clinton, a Candidate to presidency, who was a Secretary of State and a Senator before that. For me she is a strong woman, fighting men’s political battles and trying to create a balance in her personal life as a wife and mother. To Write about Hilary Clinton, I went through her husband biography, former president Bill Clinton, and even her daughter biography: Chelsea Clinton.
When Fanny Trollope stepped on American soil, women were 100 years from their right to vote, forced to stay within their strict gender roles by their controlling husbands, and were forbidden to pursue an education or a professional career. Compared with Trollope’s familiar British society, America was far behind regarding their equality of women. Trollope came to America, without her husband, and with most of her children, an extreme feat in the eyes of Americans back in the 1820’s. She advocated for education, self-sufficiency, and occupation. Trollope saw through the “new free democracy” facade and noted in “Domestic Manners of the Americans,” that women were not in mind when the framers wrote the constitution, and that they played a subordinate,
A.Introduction:History of the United States has numerous remarkable ladies who have rolled out critical improvements in women’s life. Two of such ladies were Eleanor Roosevelt Margaret Sanger and they lived roughly in the meantime. They both contributed immensely to change the women’s lives, roles and position them equally with men. Eleanor Roosevelt was born in 1884 in New York. Despite the fact that she was born in a wealthy family, her adolescence was miserable.
It Only Takes One Second What bigger dream could a child possess than to pursue a career as president? Parents all across the nation instill the possibility of leading the country into the minds of little boys and girls each and every day. The concept of supreme power, a mansion, and nationwide recognition fabricates a false depiction of life as the president. Representing an entire country is an immense amount of power that can cause “heavy strain” on an individual (Coolidge 240).
For much of her life, Ima Hogg was affectionately known as the “First Lady of Texas,” owing to her family’s long tradition of public service. Her grandfather helped write the Texas state constitution and her father, James Stephen (“Big Jim”) Hogg, went on to become the Lone Star State’s first native-born governor. The inheritance Ima received upon her father’s death in 1906 made her financially independent; he had made a small fortune through his work as an attorney, as well as investments in land and oil. Upon her mother’s and father’s death, Ima went on to be the mother figure in her siblings’ lives, taking on the role for most if not all of her life.
The 1960s brought along important and beneficial changes to America, especially changes regarding gender roles and race relations. Even after World War II and the increasing tensions between the United States and Russia and Vietnam, America’s culture was changing faster than before. During the 1960s, gender roles changed for the better and race relations improved significantly. The role of women in the 1960s changed after centuries of little to no freedom. However, women gained freedom during World War II and a sense of equality between the genders grew throughout the late 1900s.
These roles are another important quality to Mrs. Obama of the president-to-be. She wants the country to have a president who knows their job and has had experience in the field of government. All of these facts that have been intertwined with Mrs. Obama’s use of ethos are excellent examples of
Dolley Madison will always be remembered for her generous hospitality, kind words, and powerful influence in her role as First Lady of the United States of America. Her lack of formal education did not detract from her intelligence in the least, being clever, sensible, and acute. She is noted for her impact on the role of future First Ladies, often referred to as “the first First Lady”. Although she was much younger than her husband President James Madison, the two had an extremely stable marriage; correspondence between them proves this. Throughout her life, Dolley Madison was beloved by the American people.
In her essay, The Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt, author Betty Houchin Winfield argues that because of her journalistic career and the precedent she had on the role of the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential women in American history. Winfield, unlike many other authors who write on the topic, does not spend an extensive amount of time focusing on Eleanor’s works in organizations and charities. However, Winfield chooses to support her argument by supplying ample information concerning the precedent Eleanor left not only on the role of the first lady, but also on the role of the American woman. Although only briefly mentioning her active involvement in several organizations, The Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt is effective in demonstrating how by
Changes, occurring in the 1920’s and continuing into the 20th Century have been significant in the lives of women. However, today, women are still treated unequally with men still being considered the dominant gender. Women were considered as being naturally weaker than men. Since early times, women have been the strength in the home and family. Connecting those periods from the early, nineteenth century into the 20th Century, life for women have changed in so many ways.
As women became more involved their ability to further improve their societal standing increased as they gained more power through reform. Women became more involved in the workforce. They were paid more, better protected, and more well respected. World War One showed the nation that women could fill the role of men and produce on a level that made them important. Women also changed the progressive era by focusing on the welfare of the poor and low class.
In this letter Abigail Adams focuses on the need for laws to protect women and on the character of men. The general ideas in the letter are to challenge the society that surrounded her, the male-dominated world, support the expansion of the female gender role, despite the doctrine of femme couverte and illustrate the important role that women played in the formation of the new American
Burke argues that Roosevelt gave the White House a conscious due to the fact that empathized with the American people facing hardships during the Great Depression. Burke also mentions how during Roosevelt’s tenure as first-lady she put an estimated 4000 women into fourth-class post office positions (Burke 368). Finally, Burke talks about Roosevelt’s legacy, which was her key argument in this article, in which she talks about how much change and impact Roosevelt had on American society as a whole. Some of the key questions that this article addresses are; what impact did Eleanor Roosevelt have on society today, how much did she change the role of the first lady, and how did she impact women during her