It is no secret that women in the United States lack political representation; the political field has historically been, and is currently, dominated by the male population. In the current 114th U.S. Congress, there are 104 females serving out of 535 members, making womens’ political representation percentage a mere 19.4 percent. After some review, I've learned that one specific cause attributed to this male domination is their successful use of rhetorical strategies. Rhetorical strategies can be defined as the discourse chosen to convey meaning or persuade an audience.
These specific rhetorical strategies are commonly found in political discourse, and I have found it disturbing to learn how much power speech can have in influencing our opinions. Specifically, women in politics are affected by their use of rhetoric. In our day, women must walk a fine line between being submissive and assertive, and between being self sacrificing and ambitious.
To take it a step further, if women utilize a more masculine rhetoric, such as adding aggression to their discourse, they can violate their audiences' expectations. Generally, because these violations are negative, their image has the potential to suffer. This is exemplified through Hillary Clinton's redefinition of the female politician. Clinton does not succumb to the stereotypical "feminine style" of rhetoric, and instead, through her usage of confrontation and aggression, she is placed in a more masculine category. When Clinton faced criticism, Mandy Manning commented on Hillary's usage of rhetorical strategies, stating: "failure to appreciate the highly developed argumentative skills of an expert advocate when that advocate is a female reveals our deficiencies, not hers."
It is clear that our society is undergoing progressive change and is learning to be more accepting of females in politics. However, if we were more aware of these specific rhetorical strategies and stereotypes, we would continue to be a more informed audience. Once we learn to take these factors into account, we can start to focus more on the political issues at hand, rather than losing our focus to their presentation.
