One of the most interesting questions about a public performance concerns how the context affects the message. We need to understand this because we are influenced by such factors and because we want to use the media to influence others.
I'm absolutely not an expect in this area, but I have quite a bit of experience speaking as a professional woman and I've learned to look for some things.
I did think that MSOC has a wonderful physical presence and that she stayed completely on message, while also managing to be clever and even humorous. She did her part really well.
But things happen. I have no idea what to do about these things. I've enountered the same set up as MSOC encountered (as I see it) fairly often. It's tough; I have a few ad hoc ways of dealing with it, but I doubt they are very effective. But at least we need to think about this kind of thing, IMHO.
Mind you, I could be wrong about this, but here are three factors which I thought were present and which bothered me:
1. Gibson introduced Beckel as an old friend. Though he knows MaryScott, nothing was said about their acquaintance. (My memory could be faulty, but I'm pretty sure this was true.) Gibson and Beckel were very obviously pals.
2. Throughout the session he referred to his old friend as Beckel, while MSOC was "MaryScott." In context where you're indicating who is meeting professional standards, stuff like that is important. (I floated a gender analysis of this difference earlier which I'm now not sure about. Something was going on, but I'm not sure what.)
3. Beckel has 352 words and MSOC 120. (I'm counting them from the transcript that appear in the diary which my above comment was linked to.)
What was the effect of this? Well, the effect probably varied from one person to the next, but I was concerned that a very particular context was placed for MSOC's comment that Beckel, who doesn't want impeach to start right away if we all win in the fall, is a strategist, while she calls for impeachment on principle. That is, MSOC was the outsider, while the guys were the experienced insiders, paling around. They know what's what; she is, as Gibson said, extreme.
I hope that no one thinks I mean to be critical of MSOC, who did a great job. And, as I said before, I could be wrong, but in fact I've seen this happen so many, many times, that I suspect I'm right. In professional contexts that I operate in, this is how people are marginalized, and I've seen it happen a lot. And I felt that MSOC's final comment was indeed marginalized. Mind you, she is just getting a foothold into this world, so one might even think being on the margins is just to be expected.
What I do think - or at least want to suggest - is that it's good to try to look at things in this way, because factors like these make a difference.