A Rhetorical Analysis of Michelle Obama's Rhetoric in the Let's Move! Program

Abstract

As the childhood obesity epidemic continues in the United States, there is a persistent need to discover what communication strategies work for income diverse communities in the United States, in order to prevent adverse immediate and long term effects on children. Understanding how people in power discuss obesity and conform to hegemonic expectations is also relevant to our assessments of increasingly diverse leaders in the U.S. This study focuses on the rhetoric of former First Lady Michelle Obama throughout the Let’s Move! public health program, the aim of which was to end the pediatric obesity epidemic in one generation. Three of her addresses given throughout the program’s existence are analyzed through the framework of feminist and metaphoric rhetorical criticism. Specifically, metaphors are analyzed to gain a more nuanced perception of her rhetorical strategies and the framing of Let’s Move! as a positive and attainable goal, requiring all members of a community to be engaged to enact healthy changes. Feminist analysis is utilized to discern the extent to which, if any, she upheld the patriarchal norms of a woman speaking in front of an audience, This analysis uses the historical expectations of First Lady discourse and the theory of Republican Motherhood to frame her experiences and validate her place behind the podium. The research questions for this analysis are: How does Michelle Obama use metaphor in the Let’s Move! program? and looking through a feminist lens, do Obama’s messages regarding childhood obesity and increasing physical activity uphold hegemonic norms regarding Republican Motherhood and FLOTUS rhetoric?