Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards Recent documents in Stacey Sowards en-us Sun, 31 May 2009 12:08:59 PDT 3600 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/10 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/10 Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:30:22 PDT This essay examines the contradictions often found in third wave feminist texts that function as strategic choices that may shape, foster, and enhance an individual's sense of agency. Many third wave feminists utilize contradiction as a way to understand emergent identities, to develop new ways of thinking, and to imagine new forms of social action. Agency, then, stems from the use of contradiction as a means of selfdetermination and identity, of transcendence of seemingly forced or dichotomous choices, and counter-imaginations of a better future. Valerie R. Renegar http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/9 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/9 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:58 PDT The nature/culture dualism has long been criticized for constructing social beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that fail to respect and value the natural world. One possible way to bridge the divide between the human and non-human worlds is the process of identification. Orangutans, an endangered species found in Indonesia and Malaysia, enable individuals to bridge, connect, and identify with a seemingly separate natural world. Through identification with orangutans, humans come to re-evaluate their own perspectives and dichotomous ways of thinking about their relationships with nature. Stacey Sowards http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/7 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/7 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:57 PDT Feminist activism has long incorporated the rhetorical strategies of public protest and confrontation. However, feminist thought has also produced forms of activism that both include and move beyond these traditional rhetorical options. This essay explores the rhetorical exigencies of contemporary feminist activism, and then examines examples of rhetorical activism that play an integral part in contemporary feminism, such as creating grassroot models of leadership, using strategic humor, building feminist identity, sharing stories, and challenging stereotypes. This activism contributes not only to our understanding of the rhetoric of contemporary feminism, but also extends the rhetorical theories of social movements and counterpublics to include alternative kinds of activist options. Stacey K. Sowards http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/8 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/8 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:57 PDT The rhetorical practice of consciousness-raising has changed since communication theorists first began to apply its Junctions and style, as a small group, face-to-face practice, in the early 1970s. In this essay, we argue that in feminist activism and theory, the practice of consciousness-raising has evolved in response to shifting cultural conditions. Our examination of consciousness-raising rhetoric produced by self-labeled "third wave" feminists reveals how contemporary social contexts have generated d0erent rhetorical problems and discursive responses for feminists. Specifically, we show how third wave feminist consciousness- raising instills a critical perspective that focuses on personal and social injustices. We argue that these rhetorical responses raise consciousness in the public sphere, through mass media, popular culture, and college classrooms, fostering both public and private dialogue about gender inequities that aims at self-persuasion. Stacey K. Sowards http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/6 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/6 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:56 PDT During the 2006 immigration rallies and demonstrations, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters tumed out to protest proposed immigration legislation. Flag waving was a key element of these demonstrations, in which participants employed both the U.S. flag and other national flags, most prominently Mexican flags. In this essay, we examine how flag waving functions as a visual argument that offers possibilities for establishing cultural and national citizenship and creating a visual form of refutation. Specifically, we argue that anti-immigration advocates see foreign flags as visual ideographs that represent recent immigrants' failure to assimilate, immigrants' deviant cultural practices, and failure of law enforcement. Immigrant rights advocates see foreign fkgs as a visual ideograph that represents cultural pride, unity, and civic participation that creates space for cultural citizenship. These oppositional tensions aeate a framework for understanding flag waving as a refutative process. Richard D. Pineda http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/5 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/5 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:56 PDT Stacey Sowards http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/4 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/4 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:56 PDT Third wave feminism highlights the tensions of its predecessor feminisms while offering the hope of a more unified, yet diverse, movement. We argue that third wave feminism needs an overarching and coherent philosophical theory. Richard Rorty's liberal ironism (the recognition that our language practices are contingent and that pain and humiliation are the worst aspects of human nature) is a mechanism that new feminisms may utilize to create solidarity through rhetorical construction and linguistic redescription. Valerie R. Renegar http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/3 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/3 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:55 PDT Environmentalists often employ apocalyptic or doomsday rhetoric to draw attention to a particular environmental problem or issue. Using orangutan protection organizations and primatologists as a case study, this essay suggests that an alternative to apocalyptic rhetoric, the rhetoric of perpetual potential, can create an impetus for environmental activism through emphasis on hopeful solutions. Perpetual potential rhetoric, features appeals of uniqueness, precariousness, and timeliness (Cox, 1982). Environmental organizations use perpetuality to illustrate how orangutans are unique above all other endangered species and always on the brink of extinction in temporal contexts of the past, present, and future. They also emphasize the potentiality for saving orangutans and rain forests from extinction through their hopeful rhetoric, rather than doomsday or apocalyptic rhetoric. This study examines rhetorical practices in both Western and Indonesian contexts and languages, demonstrating that international cultural contexts play a significant role in the success of the perpetual potential. Stacey Sowards http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/1 http://works.bepress.com/stacey_sowards/1 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:52:55 PDT Stacey Sowards