Invites rhetorical critics to reappraise the way they study discreet social movements and pay isolated tribute to woman's rights figures. Examines how Mary Wollstonecraft, Margaret Fuller, and Angelina Grimke each co-opted the ideational and stylistic rhetorical characteristics of pre-existing social movements (the enlightenment,…

Notes that the rhetoric of Frances E. Willard relied primarily on "womanhood" arguments, making her uniquely successful at promoting woman suffrage with conservative audiences. Concludes that the popularization of Willard's strategies represented a transformation of the symbolic context of the suffrage movement. Examines the implications…

Proposes an alternative to the patriarchal bias in most traditional rhetorical theories--invitational rhetoric, grounded in the feminist principles of equality, immanent value, and self-determination. Argues that its purpose is to offer an invitation to understanding and that its communicative modes are the offering of perspectives and the…

Argues that by rereading Helene Cixous's "The Laugh of Medusa" as a rhetoric--that is, an essay which posits what can and must be done by women if they are to intervene effectively in the public sphere through written or oral discourse--both rhetorical and feminist theory and criticism are enriched. (SR)

Traditional scholarship on social movements has emphasized external rhetoric and the role of the leader, rather than the internal dynamics of social movement organizations. This paper is an argument for the integration of experiences and meanings related to membership. Belle Edson's feminist critique of social movement studies provides a framework…

Advances a "rhetoricized" conception of alienation through the work of Mary Wollstonecraft, a British feminist writing in the 1790s. Suggests that alienation is a discursive problem posed by the interpolation of women throughout history and the reification of those interpolations over time. Shows how alienation functions as a critical…

Analyzes Betty Friedan's crucial feminist document, "The Feminine Mystique," arguing that Friedan strategically employed an androgynous rhetorical style. Maintains that Friedan thus, without explicitly advocating androgyny, created an audience which accepts an ideology transcending oppressive gender dichotomies. (SR)

Critiques prior scholarship that argues Margaret Sanger's magazine "The Woman Rebel" was a failure. Argues that it was a strategic and rhetorical success, offering a coherent description of what is now socialist feminism, and addressing its primary audience of working-class women primarily through simplistic moral reasoning and…

Analyzes the rhetorical strategies employed by Leonora O'Reilly, a Progressive Era labor reformer. Argues that O'Reilly's use of enactment and empowerment are representative of a "feminine style," and that her rhetoric provides an opportunity to examine the public voice of a working-class female reformer. (SR)

Contributes to scholarship advancing the understanding of human communication, illustrating the discursive enactment of hegemony through organizational responses to sexual harassment. Analyzes stories from both victims of sexual harassment and administrators who manage sexual harassment complaints at a major United States university. Argues that…

Examines Margaret Fuller's "Woman in the Nineteenth Century." Notes Fuller's use of transcendentalist philosophy as she demonstrated how women lacked a sense of "self," and constructed women as individuals capable of articulating their own needs and interests through a complex four-part argument. (SR)

Analyzes Antoinette Brown Blackwell's Oberlin College correspondence with Lucy Stone. Explores how these 19th-century women developed a shared feminist consciousness, how they explored their identity as women, became aware that others shared their experiences, and felt empowered to enact specific changes in society. Argues that…

Concentrating on the efforts of such nineteenth century women's rights advocates as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, communication researchers have largely overlooked the contributions made to the cause by Ann Eliza Young. The nineteenth wife of Mormon leader Brigham Young, Ann Eliza Young left her husband and took to the speaker's…

Examines the 18th-century rhetorical convention of misogynist satire and how it shaped attitudes toward women speakers. Focuses not so much on the formal properties of the satire but on its convention and content as modes of insinuation. Surveys prominent journals, newspapers, magazines, and reviews of the period. (TB)

Contributes to scholarship advancing the understanding of human communication by examining the rhetorical invention strategies of suffrage rhetoric in the cultural context of World War I. Shows how the political cartoons published in the mainstream Suffrage Movement's "The Woman Citizen" constructed women as strong, competent, and…