Introduction (Literature Review)When women began entering the political scene in the United States in numbers in the late 20th century, they faced some number of difficulties. One of these difficulties concerned the language they should use in the political arena. As members of the “other” group, women were forced, in many ways, to adopt the speech patterns of their male counterparts. As Blankenship and Robson pointed out in their research: "Once women were allowed modest access to the political playing field, they had to either speak the dominant language of power and prove that they were 'tough enough.' , or remain forever the linguistic sissy. » (354). However, over the past two decades, women's collective roles in society and politics have changed dramatically, leading some to question whether women's political discourse still exists – and if so, to what extent. By the mid-to-late 1980s, literature on the topic of women's discourse in politics began to surface in abundance – perhaps following the Democratic Party's nomination of Geraldine Ferraro as its first female candidate for office. vice-president on a major party ticket in 1984. Originally, the women's speech was just a speech. model characterized by "personal tone, references to personal experience, inductive reasoning, use of anecdotes and examples as evidence, audience participation, and identification between speaker and audience" ( Campbell, 1989, p. But since then, the situation has evolved enormously. In fact, Dow and Tonn (1993) claimed, through their study of the speeches of Texas Governor Ann Richard, that this new feminine discourse was an "alternative political philosophy"......amid the article...... is incredibly new and full of ambiguity. As mentioned previously, there is still much to be learned on the topic of gender and political discourse – particularly as it relates to female candidates at the national level. As the scope of American politics continues to change and more female politicians become figures on the national stage, the importance of research of this nature becomes apparent. However, through this particular study, I intend to highlight commonalities in how female politicians interpret their feminine identity through discourse in hopes of reaching a conclusion about what it looks like “feminine” political discourse during this decade. In doing so, I hope to lay the groundwork for future discussion on the evolving discourse used by female candidates for political office, a topic rarely discussed..