Defense Date

10-6-2023

Graduation Date

Fall 12-15-2023

Availability

One-year Embargo

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Communication and Rhetorical Studies

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Erik Garrett

Committee Member

Anthony Wachs

Committee Member

Janie Harden Fritz

Keywords

intersectional feminism, pop culture, feminism in pop culture, pop culture in education, rhetorical analysis of television shows

Abstract

This project intends to show how women can use examples from television as an Other to learn from and identify with, in the hopes of bridging that education gap in intersectional competence (and hopefully allyship). This aims to further the fields of philosophy of communication, communication ethics, intercultural communication, and interpersonal communication. First, I lay the groundwork with a brief history of the feminist movement(s), including how white women have positioned themselves throughout history within the feminist lens as well as what intersectionality means and when it historically comes into focus. Next, I examine feminist rhetorical devices (including an illustration of differences between rhetorical tools that are typically used by white women compared to those of Black women), as well as the question of whether to write women into the rhetorical canon or to simply rewrite the canon. Then, I start to introduce my analysis by examining television and pop culture as an Other and how we can situate ourselves both in the fictional worlds we watch and in our realities. (This introduces questions such as: How does this Otherness evolve? How do we have to regard a piece of pop culture for it to be an Other? How does listening to this Otherness impact how we move in our thought circles and social spheres? How does this impact our intersectionality? How does this impact our intercultural competence?) Immediately following, I provide a rhetorical analysis of three episodes of television. I discuss the importance of each show, its cultural relevance, and a glimpse of current scholarship surrounding the show. I break down a specific storyline by analyzing the feminist rhetorical devices found throughout as well as how those rhetorical devices can be used as scripts for intercultural communication competence education. Finally, I discuss some action items that we can look at after we broaden our thought communities, including how we can speak up within our own community and what responsibilities we have as educators.

Language

English

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