Conventionalizing Gender

Abstract

As the 1996 national political conventions approached, the Republican presidential challenger Robert Dole was faced with an almost insurmountable gender gap. At the conventions, the Republicans sought to reduce that gap by appealing to women voters, just as the Democrats sought to maintain their advantage. The three key Republican strategies were to showcase Republican women, to focus on families, and to re-vision the party's history and record on issues of concern to women. A similar strategy was employed by the Democrats, except their history and legislative record needed no reconstruction. In this article, we examine the role of the media in co-constructing women's participation in both conventions, the role of women in articulating convention themes, and the dimensions of discourse added by women on prime time television. We also suggest implications these enactments hold for the future.