[315] EDITOR SUSAN MORRISON TO DISCUSS HILLARY CLINTON MARCH 31 AT MTSU

EDITOR SUSAN MORRISON TO DISCUSS HILLARY CLINTON MARCH 31 AT MTSU
Lecture Addresses Voters’ ‘Visceral Reactions,’ Pro and Con to Candidate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 10, 2008
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Beverly Keel, 615-898-5150, bkeel@mtsu.edu

(MURFREESBORO)—Does the thought of Sen. Hillary Clinton being elected president inspire you or frighten you? There’s a good chance that whatever you feel, you feel strongly about it.
Monday, March 31, at MTSU, nationally known editor Susan Morrison will explore these strong and varied reactions to Clinton, especially by women and the media, in “Who's Your Hillary? Why Candidate Clinton Pushes So Many Women's Buttons.”
The 12:40 p.m. lecture, held at the Keathley University Center Theater, is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies in honor of Women’s History Month.
Morrison is the editor of the book Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary: Reflections by Women Writers. She has been the articles editor of The New Yorker for 11 years. She also was editor-in-chief of The New York Observer, a founding editor of Spy magazine and features director at Vogue.
“I’m interested in the way voters, women in particular, take Hillary Clinton so personally,” said Morrison. “When her name comes up, the mood changes: people raise their voices, their faces get red. She inspires more passionate reactions (pro and con) than most other politicians do.”
In the book she edited, Morrison asked 30 female literary writers to examine their emotional reactions to Clinton, setting aside policy issues.
“I think that, here in 2008, we all tend to consider ourselves so evolved and sophisticated that we assume we are gender-blind (and race-blind),” she said. “But many of the visceral reactions that people, and the media, have to Clinton suggest that her gender plays a big, perhaps unacknowledged role.
“Do we expect different qualities from a woman leader than we do from a male leader? Do we expect her to be softer, tougher, not as tough? By extension, I think it’s fascinating to watch how the media reacts to her, and to (Sen. Barack) Obama, the first black contender with a real chance. If you watch the coverage of the campaign closely, all kinds of gender glitches surface: for example, when Clinton’s opponents were extremely combative with her in a debate, some commentators claimed that they ‘ganged up on her’ in an ungentlemanly way; and others have pointed to some of Obama’s debate behavior as ‘unchivalrous.’ It’s clear that there is much more than policy and experience at work in the way we react to the candidates.”
Morrison will sign copies of her book at the conclusion of her talk. For more information, contact 615-898-5150 or bkeel@mtsu.edu.

-------

IN BRIEF: Monday, March 31, at MTSU, Susan Morrison, editor of the book Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary: Reflections by Women Writers, will explore the strong and varied reactions to Sen. Hillary Clinton, especially by women and the media. The 12:40 p.m. lecture at the Keathley University Center Theater, “Who's Your Hillary? Why Candidate Clinton Pushes So Many Women's Buttons,” is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies in honor of Women’s History Month. For more information, contact 615-898-5150 or bkeel@mtsu.edu.

For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.

—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color JPEG of Morrison to accompany this article, please contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385.

Thanks!