Persuasive Acts: Women's Rhetorics in the Twenty-First Century

by Shari Stenberg (Editor), Charlotte Hogg (Editor)

Overview

In June 2015, Bree Newsome scaled the flagpole in front of South Carolina’s state capitol and removed the Confederate flag. The following month, the Confederate flag was permanently removed from the state capitol. Newsome is a compelling example of a twenty-first-century woman rhetor, along with bloggers, writers, politicians, activists, artists, and everyday social media users, who give new meaning to Aristotle’s ubiquitous definition of rhetoric as the discovery of the “available means of persuasion.” Women’s persuasive acts from the first two decades of the twenty-first century include new technologies and repurposed old ones, engaged not only to persuade, but also to tell their stories, to sponsor change, and to challenge cultural forces that repress and oppress.

Persuasive Acts: Women’s Rhetorics in the Twenty-First Century gathers an expansive array of voices and texts from well-known figures including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, Michelle Obama, Lindy West, Sonia Sotomayor, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, so that readers may converse with them, and build rhetorics of their own. Editors Shari J. Stenberg and Charlotte Hogg have complied timely and provocative rhetorics that represent critical issues and rhetorical affordances of the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822987512
Publisher:	University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Series:	Composition, Literacy, and Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Shari Stenberg is Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
 
Charlotte Hogg is associate professor of English at Texas Christian University.
 

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments Note on Editorial Changes Introduction. Gathering Women’s Rhetorics for the Twenty-First Century I. Rhetorics of Civic Engagement Hillary Rodham Clinton-Remarks at the Democratic National Convention Shirin Ebadi-“The Women Who Dared to Rise Up”: Excerpt from Until We Are Free Jeannette Urquilla-“El Salvador’s Shameful Treatment of Women Who Miscarry” Nancy Pelosi-Pelosi Floor Speech on Republican Amendments Defunding the Affordable Care Act Sonia Sotomayor-Excerpt from Utah v. Strieff Dissent Maxine Waters-Speech at Los Angeles Immigration Rally Michelle Obama-Remarks by the First Lady at Hillary for America Campaign Event in Manchester, New Hampshire Jennifer Bailey-“Strange Fruit of a Different Name” Emma González-Excerpt from Glimmer of Hope: How Tragedy Sparked a Movement Sharon Brous-“Israel in Trying Times: Unity Not Uniformity” Lezley McSpadden-“Michael Brown’s Mom, on Alton Sterling and Philando Castile” Cathy de la Cruz, Caroline Madden, and Keegan Osinski-Mansplaining Tweets Nadia Bolz-Weber-“We’re in the Midst of an Apocalypse: And That’s a Good Thing” Lindy West-“Ask Not for Whom the Bell Trolls; It Trolls for Thee”: Excerpt from This American Life Podcast II. Rhetorics of Feminisms Kimberlé Crenshaw-“Why Intersectionality Can’t Wait” Robin M. Boylorn-“Mama’s Feminism”: Excerpt from The Crunk Feminist Collection Barbara Sostaita-“This Women’s History Month, I Refuse to Celebrate Your Feminism” Patricia Valoy-“Transnational Feminism: Why Feminist Activism Needs to Think Globally” Amy Alexander-“Today’s Feminism: Too Much Marketing, Not Enough Reality” Emi Koyama-Excerpts from “The Transfeminist Manifesto” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie-Wellesley College 2015 Commencement Address Erica Thurman-“Bell, Black Girls Are Healing, and It Is Glorious” Claire Swinarski-“Why I’m a Pro-life Feminist” Shannon Downey-The Future is Female, Badass Cross Stitch Sara Ahmed-“A Killjoy Survival Kit,” Excerpt from Living a Feminist Life III. Rhetorics of Protest and Resistance Alicia Garza-“A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement” Women’s March on Washington Organizers-Guiding Vision and Definition of Principles Women’s March Signs Riverbend-Excerpts from Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq Paola Bacchetta, Tina Campt, Inderpal Grewal, Caren Kaplan, Minoo Moallem, and Jennifer Terry-“Transnational Feminist Practices against War” Edwidge Danticat-“We Must Not Forget Detained Migrant Children” Vandana Shiva-“Principles of Earth Democracy”: Excerpt from Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace Tara Houska-“On the Struggle for Native American Rights” Gina Adams-Treaty of Fort Laramie 1851, Broken Treaty Quilt Series, 2017 Sasha Weiss-“The Power of #YesAllWomen” Suzanne Samin-“I’m a Female Gamer, and This is What It’s Really Like” Bree Newsome-Civil Disobedience: Bree Newsome Removes Confederate Flag Emily Doe (Chanel Miller)-Victim Impact Statement from People v. Turner (Stanford Rape Case) IV. Rhetorics of Education Malala Yousafzai-Speech to the United Nations, July 12, 2013 Jemelleh Coes-“To the Educators Who Will Teach My Black Daughter” Angy Rivera-“DREAMer: Coming out as Undocumented” Jennine Capó Crucet-“How to Leave Hialeah”: Excerpt from How to Leave Hialeah and Epilogue Adrienne Keene-“Dear Native College Student: You Are Loved” Janet Tsai-“An Engineering Approach to Feminism”: Excerpt from Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists Katharine Hayhoe-Climate Change Evangelist Wagatwe Wanjuki-“Dear Tufts Administrators Who Expelled Me after My Sexual Assaults” Kimberly Shappley-“Texas Conservative Christian Mom Speaks out against SB6 ‘Bathroom Bill’” Ananya Roy-“We Are All Students of Color Now” Marjane Satrapi-“The Veil”: Excerpt from Persepolis Jessica Valenti-Excerpt from Full Frontal Feminism V. Rhetorics of Work and Labor Linda Tirado-“This Is Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense” Sheryl Sandberg-“Introduction: Internalizing the Revolution”: Excerpt from Lean In Jennifer Pozner-“Missing in Action: Whatever Happened to the Gender Gap?” Brenda Berkman-“Remembering the 9/11 Women” Tammy Duckworth-“What I Learned at War” Gretchen Carlson-“Sexual Harassment Reckoning Has Been a Long Time Coming” Thanu Yakupitiyage-“Why I March: Climate Change and Migration Have Everything to Do with Each Other” Ai-jen Poo-“Lola Wasn’t Alone” National Domestic Workers Alliance Infographic VI. Rhetorics of Identities and the Body Melissa V. Harris-Perry“Disaster”: Excerpt from Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America Jennifer Baumgardner-“Introduction”: Excerpt from Abortion & Life Tarana Burke-“The Inception” Eve Ensler-“My Cancer is Arbitrary: Congo’s Atrocities Are Very Deliberate” Kat Blaque-“Defecating While Trans” Body-Positive Images: Hana Shafi, The Scales; Jessamyn Stanley, Every Body Yoga; Christine Yahya, Natural Stains Julia Serano-“96 Percent” Gabrielle Blair-Twitter Thread on Abortion Karin Hitselberger-“Cheeky, Not Tragic: Defining Anti-Inspiration Porn” Michelle Denise Jackson-“Reflections on Sandra Bland: My Black Body Was Not Meant to Bear All This Trauma” Staceyann Chin-“On Rooms to Fight and Fuck and Crow” Christina Cauterucci-“For Many Young Queer Women, Lesbian Offers a Fraught Inheritance” Johanna Hedva-“Sick Woman Theory” Permission Credits Index

Editorial Reviews

“Persuasive Acts gathers women’s voices in 21st-century theories and public writings. Assembling a chorus from Malala Yousafzai to Michelle Obama to Kimberle Crenshaw to Marjane Satrapi, this collection invites readers to contemplate women’s engagement with education, labor, identity, bodies, politics, civic protest, etc. Extending recovery work of 20th-century scholars, Persuasive Acts is a significant resource for students, teachers and general readers.” —Krista Ratcliffe, Arizona State University
 


“The ‘persuasive acts’ smartly gathered here just might save us. These 21st century women’s voices come just in time. I (almost) regret retiring—I would love to teach students with this book.” —Kate Ronald, co-editor of Available Means: An Anthology of Women’s Rhetoric(s)
 

“The power of this collection of 21st-century rhetoric lies in its comprehensiveness. The content and styles represented expand the import of women’s voices around the globe. Each voice adds to the cornucopia of issues impinging on women and affecting the entire human community.” —CHOICE

From the Publisher