WORKING THE SENATE FROM THE OUTSIDE IN - THE MEDIATED CONSTRUCTION OFA FEMINIST POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

The 1992 campaign year was known as the political Year of the Woman. T his phrase was used to denote both the high-profile Senate campaigns o f five women, as well as a generalized sense of enthusiasm for female political candidates and, to some extent, for certain feminist beliefs . This is an examination of one aspect of this campaign: the mass-medi ated discursive formation used to position these Senate candidates out side of perceived mainstream, cultural beliefs and the ways in which t he resulting discourse functioned as a commentary on U.S. feminism wri t large.