Memories of Movement in a Postfeminist Context: Conservative Fusion in the Rhetoric of Tammy Bruce and “Dr. Laura” Schlessinger

Abstract

Feminist rhetorical critics have located the right's efforts to attract female voters through the allure of ''conservative feminism.'' Missing from this discussion, however, is a richer understanding of the ideologies from which ''conservative feminism'' emerges. We reveal a key rhetorical strategy for the right: memories of feminism. Fragments from two prominent conservative women-Tammy Bruce and ''Dr. Laura'' Schlessinger-reveal how meanings about social movement are always subject to change via social struggle. We consider the implications of Schlessinger's and Bruce's memories of liberal feminism as a radical movement, and their fostering of identification through subjects reminiscent of classical liberalism.Presidential elections provide reflective and clarifying moments in U.S. culture, and the 2008 and 2012 elections have been no exception-particularly for gender, women's issues, and feminism. The mainstream press declared 2008 the ''year of