Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This case study analyzes post 9/11 militarization of American mothers’ lives in one small Midwestern town. In this paper, I focus on “Security Moms” and the gendered militarization of “fear” and “security” in their lives. In particular, I examine the ways that militarized rhetoric of fear has manipulated mothers into believing that traditional family values are under attack from American culture as well as from terrorists; linking these battles, one on a military front and the other on moral grounds in which the traditional family is under attack.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: From Dwight Eisenhower to John McCain, presidential candidates have appealed to female voters by highlighting motherhood in their_x000d_campaigns. The most recent example of this has been the "hockey mom" trope introduced by the "first hockey mom" to earn a slot on the GOP presidential ticket, Gov. Sarah Palin. These appeals, while motivated by political gamesmanship, imply that mothers see the political world a bit differently from other women. They suggest that women with children have different political priorities and concerns; and at times, different positions on political issues. This paper takes this proposition seriously, and asks the question: does becoming a mother have a transformative effect on women's political attitudes? Using longitudinal data from the four-wave 1965-1997 Political Socialization Panel Study, I track the movement of women's political attitudes on partisan identification, ideological identification, and some policy issues. I find that motherhood is, for some, politically transformative. These results suggest that while the "hockey mom" and "soccer mom" labels may mischaracterize some female voters, it does allude to the real political meaning of motherhood.

Publication Type: Presentation
Abstract: Although research shows that women are frequent targets of workplace incivility (i.e., rudeness, disrespect), little research has examined what factors may influence the frequency with which women experience workplace incivility or how incivility may differentially affect different women. The present study examines how parental status may act as a predictor of workplace incivility for women and a moderator in the relationship between incivility and negative work outcomes.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: In late October 2008, politico.com reported that the Republican National Committee had spent $150,000 of donations given in support of the McCain presidential campaign on clothes and make-up for the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. Primary expenditures were made at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, high-end department stores far outside the price range of the "working-class hockey mom" that Palin billed herself as being. Though supporters argued that she needed a new wardrobe to compete on a national stage and that gender bias made it critical for women to cut a stylish figure, neither Palin nor the McCain strategists could answer why her new wardrobe required such financial largesse. More broadly, we might argue that Palin was merely participating in the form of image transformation we see celebrated on reality TV, where style and self-hood coalesce to make one worthy of citizenship in Makeover Nation. These narratives depart, however, in who pays for such changes (a television show or donor dollars) and the degree to which the makeover is a means to an end or the end in itself.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript