Feminist Rhetorical Theory and Gender Representation
Teresa de Lauretis, “The Technology of Gender”
This text is very important for studying rhetoric because of two main reasons. First of all, it specifically poses the question of how gender can be theorized beyond the sexual differences limits, and the constraints the notion has imposed on the critical thought of the feminist. Based on the Foucault’s theory of sexuality, the conceptual premise of the text proposes that gender also is al product of different technologies such as institutional discourses, cinema, critical practices and epistemologies. This implies that it does not only focus on academic criticism but majorly on cultural and social practices (Lauretis 3). This makes it important for rhetoric study.
Another major important reason for the text in rhetoric study is that the text has gone past Foucault, whose “technology of sex” critique only addressed a differential solicitation of female and male subjects. This essay by Lauretis further considered Althusser’s ideological interpellation theory potential, with regard to gender understanding as self-representation (Lauretis 7).
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Helene Cixous, “The Laugh of the Medusa”
This text by Helene Cixous is very important for the study of rhetoric because of two main reasons. The first reason is the smiling image of medusa whch Cixous in her book calls the women to write about their bodies. “Write! Writing is you are for you, for you, and your body is yours, so take it” (Cixous 392). The smiling image of medusa in the book of Cixous represents complexities existing in the discursive space between feminism and rhetoric. As much as the literary work of Cixous seems to be the unlikely starting point for reconstructing and revising rhetorical theory, its importance in the study of rhetoric is evident because it seeks and intervene strategically in the public sphere. That is women’s call to intervene discursively in the public sphere.
The text is also important in studying rhetoric because it posits what must and can be done by women if they are to intervene effectively in the public sphere either through oral or written discourse. She says that women can enrich both feminist and rhetorical theory and criticism. Cixous has boldly attempted articulating a rigorous concept that is philosophical of feminine writing or écriture feminine. “There is no writing inscribing femininity. Writing has been the locus for women subjugation and is marked. However, writing now allows space for thoughts that are subversive” (Cixous 394)
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Luce Irigaray, “The Power of Discourse and the Subordination of the Feminine”
This text is important for studying rhetoric because of its essentialist feminism approach. Irigaray through her essay addressed the concerns of feminist and even advanced their ideals in the society that is male driven and male centered. The essay is important because its main goal was to help women in understanding how to initiate gender discourse effectively and appropriately. This is because it is when the society will construct ideal feminine revealed as inferior (Irigaray, 790).
The essay is also important for rhetoric because Irigaray in her essay discussed how women can start establishing a voice for themselves, and to break through the hostile barriers and male-oriented constructs. She cautions women that openly and directly verbally challenging the system draws attention to the feminine who is victimized. She says that from the beginning of women’s lives, they have been imposed by presumptions of what constitutes a woman in a society.” One must assume the role of a woman deliberately which imply readiness to convert the subordination form into an affirmation, and hence start thwarting it” (Irigaray 795).
Work cited
De, Lauretis T. Technologies of Gender: Essays on Theory, Film, and Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. Print.
Helene, Cixous. The Laugh of the Medusa: a Bibliography. Santa Cruz, CA: Reference and Research Services, 1977. Print.
Irigaray, Luce. The Power of Discourse and the Subordination of the Feminine. London: Continuum, 2004. Print.