SPCM 201 1st Edition Lecture 22Rhetoric and Feminism What is Feminism(s)? A collection of diverse movements aimed at winning and defending political, economic, social, and cultural equality for women (and others) 1850-1920: First Wave Feminism- 19th Amendment 1960-1980: Second Wave Feminism - Social and Economic Equality  1980-Today: Third Wave Feminism- Intersectionality Post-Feminism?- Do we need feminism anymore KarylnKohrs Campbell 1937-Present Professor of Communication and Rhetoric  University of Minnesota Among earliest theorists of rhetoric and feminism  “The Rhetoric of Women’s Liberation” (1973) Campbell’s Central Claim  “The rhetoric of women’s liberation is a distinctive genre because it evinces unique rhetorical qualities that are a fusion of substantive and stylistic features” Women’s Liberation Rhetoric is unlike any rhetoric that came before it  Best described as “Oxymoron” Let’s investigate why… Why is Women’s Liberation Rhetoric so distinctive?  Unlike other groups, women are defined at birth as adverse to the rhetorical process “Insofar as the role of rhetor entail qualities of self-reliance, self-confidence, and independence, its very assumption is a violation of the female role” Women are socialized to be everything a rhetor is NOT This is encoded in our social, legal, and cultural systems  Examples of Codifying Women as Arhetorical (in 1973) Legal Inferiority  Marriage Laws- Reciprocal Right, not Equal Rights - 9 States forbid women from accruing household debt- 2 States: a women’s paycheck is her husband’s property- Can’t keep own surname- No rights in divorce  Economic Inferiority  Being female = being poor  Pay inequality  Women cannot inherit money or property  Examples of Codifying Women as Arhetorical (1973)  Social/Sexual Inferiority  “Men are male humans whereas women are human fe-males “I now pronounce you man and wife” Women are “unsexed” by success whereas men are “unsexed” by failure - An educated, opinionated, outspoken, working woman, who does not want children may succeed in the “man’s world” but will always fail at being a woman.  #1. Women’s Liberation Rhetoric is Substantively Distinctive…  Because women’s rights (and women’s rhetoric) can never be anything except RADICAL The very notion that a woman should speak and be treated equally to menis ALWAYS “an attack [on] the fundamental values underlying this culture.”  In other words: to be a women orator is to defy what it traditionally means to be a woman- Elaborated in style #2. Women’s Liberation Rhetoric is Stylistically Distinctive…  Because it rejects traditional concepts of what rhetoric is:  Persuasion  Expertise/Leadership  Adapting to Audiences  Inducing Acceptance Implicating a program for group action  Traditional rhetoric disempowers women Therefore, an anti-rhetorical style is needed How does traditional rhetoric disempower women? Women are isolated and divided Limited communities of women Their opinion are not valued Opinions are placed under the guardianship of man Women doubt themselves Cutlure encourages them to:- Remain timid, gentle, mild- Focus on children and the home- Ignore issues of the world- Forget about education  Consciousness-Raising “Meetings of small, leaderless groups in which each person is encouraged to express her personal feelings and experiences” No leader or expert; all participate  Goal: “make the personal political”  Recognize that individual problems are actually systemic problems  No persuasion: find your own truth  Decide for yourself how to act - “Risking of the self in genuine argument”  Other Elements of Feminist Rhetoric These stylistic ideas are extended to other tactics  Invitational Rhetoric  Foss and Griffin Speeches, Essays, etc. with the tone of consciousness-raising and civility  Violating the Reality Structure  Orgasm, lesbianism, promiscuity, adultery, masochism, man-hating, symbolic reversals  For Women’s Liberation Rhetoric to Succeed… There must be an interrelationship between the personal and political Women must recognize themselves as agents before they can take action This requires not just speechmaking, but the creation of a Sisterhood A community of women Feminist Rhetoric