"Reclaiming Rhetorical Worth: Feminist Blogs as a Space for Equality, Cooperation, and Action"

About the Author

Amani Husain is a graduate student in the Department of Communication at University of Colorado Boulder concentrating in rhetoric and working toward earning certificates in ethnic studies and women and gender studies. She is also interested in environmental communication, specifically environmental justice. Influenced by critical cultural studies, she enjoys exploring the rhetorical narratives that create the worlds we live in, particularly narratives about race, class, gender, and nation.

Contents

    Introduction

    Method

    Findings

    Analysis

    Conclusion

    Works Cited

Research Findings

In the first stages of my research I visited each blog’s “About” or “Mission Statement” pages to determine the aims and goals of each blog and the target audiences. Through this process I came to know each blog as a unique space that offered marginalized communities and individuals a dynamic, comfortable environment. However, the aim of this research was to discover how the writers of the blogs achieved such an environment through the use of images and discourse. My findings are shown below in images 1.0-5.0. Each graph represents the respective findings of each verbal unit of analysis, and are color coded to represent the three different blogs. (Note: None of the three blogs used political images on the “About” pages; therefore, a graph depicting the use of political images in the “About” pages was not required.)

Upon examining each of the three “About” or “Mission Statement” pages for the first units of analysis, descriptive words/metaphors, I found that two of the three blogs used an abundance of such units. Both The Crunk Feminist Collective and The Cuntmentality used decriptive words/metaphors to illustrate the aims of the blogs, with The Crunk Feminist Collective using these units over 100 times. Fuck Yeah, Feminists! used the least amount of descriptive words and metaphors, but its “About” section was also the shortest of the three blogs. From the “About” pages, I learned how certain blogs fostered a sense of community and how others did not.

Examining the second units of analysis, inclusive language/collective pronouns, The Crunk Feminist Collective once again used the most units, although The Cuntmentality did use these units over 20 times. The Crunk Feminist Collective had the longest mission statement, and this could be part of the reason for its abundant use of inclusive language and/or collective pronouns. However, it may also indicate the blog’s effort to establish a welcoming and comfortable environment. The Cuntmentality also used these units, but less so, while Fuck Yeah, Feminists! used the least amount.

The next stage of my research consisted of analyzing each of the blogs three most recent pages of updates/posts. Interestingly, each of the three blogs used exactly four overtly political images. Unlike my original hypothesis, none of the images were humorous or satirical. Instead, the images were solemn in their messages. Ranging from sexual harassment to human rights, reproductive self-determination, and domestic violence, the images all conveyed the severity of the issues. The images also generated dozens of comments and encouraged discussions between readers. None of the images were offensive. Rather, each image reflected the urgency of the issues presented.

As the trend in the results show, The Crunk Feminist Collective overwhelmingly used the most descriptive words/metaphors. These units of analysis are difficult to quantify, however. Identifying the units required excessive analyzation of each post on each of the three most recent pages. The process possesses room for error, but ultimately it allowed me to examine the blogs even more closely. Regarding the other two blogs, Fuck Yeah, Feminists! and The Cuntmentality used much less of these units. Part of the reason, I discovered, was that these blog posts were much shorter, relying mostly on articles, links, and images rather than original text and narratives.

The last step in my research was to examine the three most recent pages of posts and updates on each of the three blogs. This task was much like the previous analysis in which I manually searched through the pages to identify certain units. However, in this stage of the research I also used the “find” tool available on most computers. This tool helped me search for the collective pronouns such as “we,” “our,” and “us.” As I previously learned, because two of the blogs relied mostly on images, links, and other articles, The Crunk Feminist Collective, with posts generally made up of original written material, yielded the highest results.