A Return to Feminine Public Virtue: Judge Judy and the Myth of the Tough Mother

Abstract

Expanding upon “feminine style” scholarship, this essay employs mythological criticism to explore a case in which women's rhetorical invention manages both aggressiveness and femininity. Judge Judy Sheindlin's rhetoric invokes the Tough Mother, a familiar cultural character emerging from the temperance movement, to promote a special virtuous ethos within the contemporary neo-conservative scene. Judge Judy's rhetoric highlights the continued challenges for women's public discourse, illuminating how feminine public virtue may contribute to scapegoating in popular culture.