In I. A. Richard’s Philosophy of Rhetoric lecture, he discusses how words derive their meaning from their contexts, “the stability of the meaning of a word comes from the constancy of the contexts that gives it its meaning” (p. 5).
What happens when words have their meanings appropriated or a word no longer means what it was intended to mean? I see two possible options in the media today.
1. Reclaim the word.
I have two seemingly innocuous words for you: Proud Boys. During the first presidential debate, a nation watched as President Trump not only failed to denounce white supremacy but instructed the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
But have no fear. Gay Twitter is here. Thousands of gay Americans across the country took to twitter to showcase their love for their partners and families using the hashtag #ProudBoys. Those who paired the Proud Boys hashtag with images of love successfully provided a new context for the words overnight. The words can no longer be used to suppress them. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.
2. Create a new word.
Grammy-winning queen Lizzo has long been a soldier for the body positivity movement. She uses her platform to help millions of people around the world feel good about their bodies, especially if they do not fit into the traditional mold that the media promulgates. She asks her followers to love themselves exactly as they are, “if you can love me, you can love yourself.”
However, she has spoken out about the appropriation of the body positive movement by women who do fit the traditional media mold. The words body positive are “no longer benefitting” the population it was created for. In an attempt to continue her mission of helping people feel good about the space they occupy, Lizzo has coined a new term, “body normative.” She wants to normalize all bodies. She felt that she could no longer do so using the term body positive because of the flood of contexts that the word has been used in, which she believes has fundamentally reconstructed the meaning of the word. Instead of reclaiming it, she’s renaming it.
Brynn,
ReplyDeleteThis idea of giving words meaning is such a powerful concept in action. As humans, we are equipped to take our language and transform it into something that is better, more definitive, and more representative of our culture and what we fell defines our presence.
Also "But have no fear. Gay Twitter is here," is ht best thing I have heard all week. Props for that.
Hi Brynn,
ReplyDeleteThis was wonderfully timed. My group chat of friends were kind of chatting about the whole "proud boys" things immediately after Trump said it, and one of my buddies said he couldn't wait to see how Twitter and social media would take that wording and completely alter it. Memes invaded my timeline.
I think what I found most striking was not that this exchange occurred in the first place, but that it did so QUICKLY. It is quite amazing to think about how different this kind of thing would have evolved without the internet.
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ReplyDeleteMe the whole time I was writing this blog post: http://gph.is/1N2uUkX
ReplyDeleteI love this. Watching the Proud Boys hashtag be overtaken by Gay Twitter was such a satisfying and inspiring experience. It makes me feel like positive change is possible with the right people in charge.
ReplyDeleteYour discussion of Lizzo was fascinating. I've heard people accuse Lizzo of "toxic positivity," which is an extremely weird phrase that I find myself thinking about a lot. Jameela al-Jamil also discusses the appropriation of the body positivity movement by women for whom it was not intended. She has an interesting way of referring to advocacy for the acceptance of all bodies, which is "body neutrality." She says that the media places too much emphasis on our physical form, and that all women suffer as a result of this (although she acknowledges that fat women suffer the most). She wants women to be able to get to a place where they aren't forced to feel any type of way about their bodies, and the media isn't trying to influence our feelings about our physical bodies at all. Her advocacy includes advertiser transparency, disclosing cosmetic enhancement, and promoting unaltered photos rather than retouched ones. It's an entirely different set of priorities from the body positivity movement, and I respect the fight to differentiate them.
I particularly love Jameela Jamil's advocacy for transparent advertising (see: her taking on the Kardashians on the reg). I respect her work a great deal, especially since she has been very open about her personal struggles with body dysmorphia and eating disorders. However, her role as a champion of the body positivity movement just hits different because she still fits the mold of a traditionally acceptable body in a way that Lizzo does not. I think this difference raises a lot of questions about who can advocate, whose voices are heard or ignored, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of our conversation today - who's voices are getting watered down to be heard? Does Jamila have more sway in the movement because mainstream media likes the way she looks and it's easier to hear a message about accepting all bodies from one they idolize? Should that stop her from speaking out?
I'm not answering these rhetorical questions because I don't know the answers, but I think they are important to consider.
Brynn,
ReplyDeleteI'm SO glad someone decided to write on this! I was happy to see the LGBTQIA+ folx commandeering the hashtag. The night and day following the presidential debate, Proud Boys were ALL OVER social media promoting themselves. Seeing the hashtag take on new meaning really got me excited as a rhetorician. I can't wait to read what other smart people have to say about this truly special event.
Brynn,
ReplyDeleteThis was such a good and timely post! Trump has a habit of throwing out phrases that get turned against him by social media. "Nasty woman" has become a phrase used by tons of women against Trump, showing up on so many rally signs at different marches. Even "bad hombres," his disgusting comment about immigrants, was memed for awhile. Our generation is truly amazing with taking such negative things and making them our own. It would be fascinating to study how we started this trend.