Reflections on Digital Rhetoric Class

Discuss ways multimodal composing differs from and is related to your composing practices for alphabetic, print texts. How did this class affect your previous experience with digital writing both as a reader/consumer of digital media, and as a creator of digital media?

Multimodal writing is text that includes more than just written text, words, or letters.  This type of rhetoric uses photographs, videos, drawing, music, and any other form of compositions that are geared towards informing or persuading the audience or viewer(s).  The form of multimodal writing that I am familiar with are that of the digital world: blogs, podcasts, and video/audio essays.

These two methods are similar in production in that they both require an understanding of the methods of rhetoric.  In order to appeal to my audience both the alphabetic and digital texts have to consider the audience/speaker/subject triangle often used as an example for what rhetoric is.  Furthermore they both require an understanding of ethos, logos, and pathos and which one will succeed for the specific multimodal or traditional text They both require knowing what style and structure of the piece is necessary to appeal to the audience.  So when I create either of these texts (multimodal or alphabetical) I consider what the purpose is and how to best navigate the outcome, seeking information that successful reaches the audience with the right intention.  This information just changes its form from text to visual, but isn't necessarily that different regarding composition choices in these terms.

I find that because the multimodal pieces that I create are “published” in the digital world (online) then my thoughts are filled with concern of the “whole world” being able to read my words because it is more easily accessible than alphabetic text.  This makes me more cautious as to what I create.  This may be because I considering how all of my alphabetic text, so far, have been for classes.  When something is publishes and made public (all of the digital is) then the same would apply.

The actual ways in which I compose these two different texts differ in how I gather my thoughts or ideas.  When I compose an alphabetic text, I make a list of what I want to accomplish and start making examples.  Everything is done with words and letters.  So when I create multimodal texts I find that because I can’t just simply write everything out my process varies a little.  With my experience as a photographer and specifically a photographer that leans towards sending messages through images only I tend to visualize messages via images, meaning I tend to “see” an effective method rather than writing through texts.  When I want to reach an audience using visual and textual elements I find that there is a high importance in what words are left out.  Take for example the Rape Culture video essay that I created that relied heavily on images.

For the Rape Culture blog post, I created a ton of text for people to read and also linked to multiple online webpages that further explained the idea of what rape culture is.  But for the video, had I included all of that information it would have been too bombarding for the viewer.  The audience will get impatient and not finish the video if there is too much information that is included.  For short video essays, the viewer expects to be hit with the information in a short amount of time and least amount of effort.  I used mostly images with little text in order to make a point and I feel that the success of the video comes from the information that I chose to leave out. 

In terms of our class  “Digital Rhetorics and Multimodal Writing” the ways in which I read/consume digital media wasn’t drastically changed.  I think this is because of my dual majors in both very different forms of communication, but when used together is an application of multimodal writing.  I have combined text with images before and had an introduction to what I consider to be the affects of digital media.  What it did do was expand my world of what includes digital rhetoric, like the gaming world and comics.  And simply just looking at multimodal composing in terms of rhetoric. 

Having once been apart of owning an internet marketing company made me aware of the hypertext, html formatting, word usage within a website, etc. in order to appear first in the search engine.  I feel that the knowledge of that business thoroughly prepped me for digital writing in terms of marketing.  And in a way successful marketing is an expression of successful rhetoric (for that type of text). This class did however help with how I create digital media.  Having our multimodal project put me in the position of being a multimodal writer as well as our blog.  Having these experiences and this position of creation made me conscious of how to best create both.  I wouldn’t say that I succeeded in either, but that I am more aware now of the implication of a blog and how using images with entries is helpful for the audience in both breaking up all of the reading (as the viewer hasn’t sat down to read a book) so that they don’t feel overwhelmed, and visually stimulating and narrowing down an intended message.

In the future, I think I will definitely be keeping a blog but now I’ll be considering the rhetorical implications of such an easily accessible composition of things that I will be responsible for creating.  I don't think that this wouldn't have been of consideration, but now I will certainly include more multi-modal forms of blogs, rather than just written alphabetic posts because I found that those blogs that includes imagery seemed to be more effective than those that did not.

How do you now apply rhetorical theory to digital/multimodal texts? How might this knowledge be important/applicable outside a classroom setting in terms of issues like power and ethics?

The expansion of rhetorical theory has now expanded from the alphabetic text to multimodal writings.   When I look at digital/multimodal texts I analyze the information letters, words, images, and sounds to find the style, tone, and structure along with the use of ethos, logos, and pathos.  I would say that applying rhetorical theory to the digital would be to analyze the visual composition along with the word composition.

Take for instance the video that I uploaded in the beginning of class, the one on Consent.  This video uses sounds and images along with text to get the point across to the audience.  When I think of the theory in terms of a “language that is comprised of persuasion” then I start to analyze the images that were used in a specific multimodal piece, the choice of the combinations made, the use of videos.  I look at these in terms of the above: ethos, logos, and pathos, style, tone, and structure.

For the Consent video because it was such a heavy topic, the writer used a softer element “tea” to make the point of consent.  This choice is easier to digest for the viewer while still maintaining truth towards the intended message.  The use of a simple pencil drawing choice for the visual aspect was a way the reader could maintain a lightness for a heavy topic.

If I am thinking of this question correctly, how would this apply to outside the classroom setting in terms of issues like power and ethics?  The first thing that comes to mind is the how rhetorical theory is applied to digital/multimodal texts in the way that is actually used to persuade the audience. 

I guess, it’s more like when we are aware of the digital release of information like that of the search engine and the reality of net neutrality then this knowledge can be applied to go around this power struggle and lack of Internet ethics that exists.  By understanding what is involved in the rhetoric of the digital world then one can navigate around the power and ethics involved.

Why is it important to gain a multimodal literacy as a writer in contemporary times?

I find this question quite valid.  I believe that due to the direction we are moving as a society, people that are gathering information are seemingly doing so on a digital level.  Books are being read on cell phones through a kindle app, Facebook is the platform (unfortunately) where many people get their “news”, video essays are littered all over social media to spread awareness.  For these exact reasons, multimodal literacy as a writer is incredibly important.

With the statement earlier about Facebook “unfortunately” a large source of news for many people, multimodal literacy is crucial.  As a writer, if one wishes to be an honest writer that spreads the “truth” is it important to understand how to create successful memes, videos, and images linked with the right text (if needed) to spread knowledge to the audience.  However, because of the accessibility of creating such information the validity, honor, truth, accountability tends to fall more lenient, providing a platform where “news” becomes “entertainment” and therefore not as reliable. 

I feel that being a successful writer means understanding how to successfully reach the audience and a large part of the audience relies heavily on the digital world make it crucial to have multimodal literacy.  I have witnessed a close friend who refuses to pick up the newspaper, magazine, book but spends countless hours a week surfing the “texts” on his phone.  I safely argue that this is the case for many people, so to succeed, as a writer expanding from the alphabetic text will be crucial.

For those that are more interested in reading a book online, it could be beneficial as a writer to learn how to design a digital version of a book so that the audience is expanded. 

What I see as the most crucial are the video essays.  For a writer to have in-depth multimodal literacy would mean that one could create a successful video essay, which have been known to have MILLIONS of viewers.  This amount of people to reach is largely conducive to a successful writer, and in our time period seemingly the smartest decision one could make.

There is also the blog.  Blogs are a common outlet for readers to be exposed and to have a platform to expose their work that doesn’t need to be published first.  The freedom of accessibility and deliverance allows for more writers to have more success, which means that understanding this digital rhetoric will be conducive to surpassing the millions of bloggers that are already out there.  The industry is saturated and therefore to stick out will be crucial and to stick out means to have multimodal literacy.

An Experience of an Archivist

I have found a love for sifting through somebody's (artist, writer, created, etc.) personal files in order to determine their creative process.  This is all due to the a class project involving MSU's digital/physical archive of Ivan Doig.  Here is a link to the our project: Ivan Doig Story Map.  I spent hours sifting through folders in the special collections in the library.  I found it best to physically handle his research as oppsed to digitally searching it.

In terms of archival literary, I would say that the most beneficial part, wasn't using the digital archive and understanding it as the digital archive has some difficult navigation in terms of finding certain information.  However, using the physical archive to then link back to the digital archive to analyze Doig's rhetorical properties of research was the most beneficial.  For me, this is the most valuable part of the project, was actually "seeing" his creative process and understanding the rhetorical properties and thus benefits of his research that creates his work.  By analyzing his research we were able to conclude the connection behind his detailed research and process to his novel The Last Bus to Wisdom.  This allowed us to give the archive meaning.  In creating a story map that connects his research to his creative process to the end product of his book, then there is significance in the archive itself.

What I like the most, is that he completely inspired new methods of writing for me.  For the research of The Last Bus to Wisdom he has papers that cover every little detail of the story, down to the stamps used in the book, moccasins worn, etc.  It seems like a beneficial process, to physically surround a work space with the visual elements of things that are to be written about.

I like the method that our group chose, the story map, because it's a way to digitally access some of his work but in a more interconnected way.  We also used this method to discuss the meanings that we found from the archive into web text.  The platform is user friendly and easily accessible.  During this project we used the help of the librarians extensively, who were always attentive and knew exactly what to do to answer the problems that we were having.  It's quite incredible, the knowledge that those ladies have regarding such a large collection.

Also, Ross nailed the creation of the story map.  We all participated in the research and then Ross created the story map with it!  I enjoy the final product as there was a short time where I feel (all of us maybe) didn't quite know exactly how this idea was going to come together, it rather unravelled throughout the research.

Digital Research

Okay, so we are suppose to be blogging about our opinions on digital research today, but as I cannot focus on our article because I cannot escape the wrath of the election I guess I shall just rant in terms of digital research in regards to elections/politics.
My concern has to do with the amount of false information or use of propaganda in the digital world of the internet as it is a platform where all knowledge (false/truth) is easily accessible.  My fear is that memes have influenced so many people, when statistically they are stemming from a place of pathos not logos.  My fear is that uneducated people are carrying out uneducated research.  My fear is that whatever the research is that it is being read/heard but not truly listened to.  I am reading so much hate from both sides today, but mostly sorrow from those that feel truly affected in their rights as women, sexuality, gender, race, et.
In terms of the debate and the election it's scary how many people I have witnessed on social media use their "digital research" to influence decisions, the research that isn't so much research as it is a quick read over that fulfills an emotional response.  This digital research (or lack thereof) from people on my social media page has me concerned about the accessibility of information, more specifically, false information.
I think overall, it's the idea of knowledge, and mostly of truth.  How do we trust anything really, how do we when we know the writer is biased (even through the most intended objective lens).  This goes for print (the non-digital world), too.  Personally, I enjoy that I get to sift through layers of digital information.  But I am worried as to the amount of people that don't understand what being a researcher really is.

Digital Archives

Upon reading the article, Archive Experiences: A Vision for User-Centered Design in the Digital Humanities and agreeing with the fallacies of such archives in the sense of many of them not excelling in the user-centered interfaces, I searched for the "Best Digital Archives" in google and one of the first results was a person talking about how the British Library is one of the best in the world and decided to check it out.

Ironically, the first section I decided to check out "Leonardo de Vinci's collections and the archivist has stated "it is not arranged in any specific order" but intends to do so in the future.  Regardless of the lack of specific order, immediately, the layout is quite nice.  The scanning of his papers, drawings, sketches, etc. is visually appealing and as the user clicks on each page it folds over nicely just like a hands on book.  There are descriptions of each page on the left written from the archivist, which I personally enjoy.

I'm not quite sure I would say that this is the most user-friendly digital archive as I had to sift through a lot before I figured out what was going on.  The initial page is organized and inviting and the presentation of the material is pleasant on the eyes and informative, however, when searching for the Shakespeare archive (which is suppose to be the best) it took a while to find.
On the homepage the archives are organized via maps, books, exhibitions and this separations categories I find to be incredibly helpful.

Homepage

As you can see the slideshow on the homepage (shown above) filters each archive and then theres an option to view all.  I find that this is a great way to combine what one would see in a Library integrated into the digital world.

After perusing a few archives I would say that it is somewhat user friendly, the speed of upload is slower, which can be frustrating, but the visual elements are great and the story map is one of the best I've experienced in comparison to other archives.  I think what I find that I enjoy the most is when looking at the online book archives (Jane Austen being my favorite!) it's nice to get the experience of turning the pages of the manuscripts with a visual element that makes it seem like the manuscript is in your hand and then having the archivist input their words on the left of the screen.  The experience of both the archivist handling the work, submitting the work, and then talking about it I feel adds to the digital humanities aspect.  Check out the Jane Austen and Leonardo da Vinci because they are wonderful!

Net Neutrality: Not Possible

 "Once providers start to privilege some applications or websites over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed out and we all lose." With the loss of net neutrality, we lose the multitude and diversity of opinion and perspective."

 What troubles me is that this is news to some people.  What troubles me more: how can it every be possible to have net neutrality?  We live in a corporate world, period.  This is not changing.  Even if we could provide a a base speed and do away with the "fast" and "slow" lanes of internet accessibility for uploading and downloading there is still the whole "internet marketing" thing.  I know much about this as I use be by my ex-partner's side in an internet marketing company.  The results of search engines will always be from the work of marketers.  This could be black hat or white hat.  Even if links couldn't be bought or searches that resulted from ad spots there would still be a person on the back end that does the footwork it takes: manual linking from unpaid sources, search engine optimization for websites (designing web sites for search engines), etc.

I very much believe in the diversity of opinion and perspective, but it is in the search of these variances that will be necessary for the researcher, reader, searcher, to do.  I think it is in teaching this awareness that will be the most important, because until search engines are designed differently where it is randomly selected for material then regardless of the ISP speeds neutrality will not exist.

Rape Culture Video Essay

The Making of "Rape Culture" Multimodal Project

During the making of Rape Culture I aimed to speak actively against rape culture.  This process was cathartic personally but academically fell short of producing a quality of a video essay that I had envisioned.  This is in part because I have never created a video essay and with time and more editing I think that I will be able to get this project to the desire in which I wish.  The strengths would rest in the fact that I am a victim and so I have experienced this culture regardless of those opposing the idea of it and blaming feminists for creating a false perpetuating idea.

I focused on a photographic series that I created to exploit what rape culture "looks like" and for the video kept with short focused statements, using pathos, to reach the audience as well as a sad, dramatic music segment to go along to the video. 

What I would like to do in the future is add in a voice over that has an effect of a an old muffled microphone on it to keep with the aesthetic but to bring more personal involvement to reach the audience even more.

I also created a blog post that included the images with more descriptions and links to websites that exemplified rape culture to enlighten the topic with more depth and knowledge.

Check out the previous blog post to view Rape Culture.  A short video I compiled together also which is included on that blog and a separate on that I will make after this one.

Rape Culture

Rape Culture Photographer: Cassandra Schroeder 2015

The above photographic series, Rape Culture, I was compelled to create after being raped and experiencing many examples of victim blaming--in both the judicial system and public.  After much research on the topic of rape culture and it's prevalence in our society I aim to bring awareness in hopes that we can start to make a change.

Rape Culture Artist Statement

Rape Culture, the environment in which rape is normalized and inescapable due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality, is a controversial and conceptual body of work that exploits victim blaming, gender roles, sexual objectification, media desensitization, and rape jokes.  By using images of everyday moments such as a provocatively dressed woman, advertisements, and porn stills and juxtaposing these images to common phrases that are used in our everyday language, I hope to entice the viewer to question the validity and the implications if such a culture exists.

This theory is highly controversial and I've heard both sides: the side that argues against the idea of rape culture, blaming and slandering feminists for this theory--because obviously we don't live in a culture that promotes rape--and I've heard the side that agrees beyond any possible shred of doubt that we absolutely live in a world that rape culture thrives.

It seems as though we need to focus on the women that are speaking and on the men, too, as they share their stories and listen to the theorists and believers of rape culture and figure out what is being said to us.   This post isn't to convince anybody whether or not it exists, but rather to show what it actually is, because if we accept the definitions that have been posed we can stop arguing about its existence and move towards understanding it.  I invite you to listen, openly, in hopes that by hearing what is happening we can hear why it is so important to stop rape culture.

The limits of creating this photographic series was that I could not include statistics nor text to further explain what rape culture is, rather it was instead a visual series to show what it looks like when we put these common sayings (rape culture examples) to the images rather than speaking/hearing them in passing.  For the information that I wasn't able to include in the project I am now incorporating here, in this space to help explain more fully the details of such a culture.

Appropriation of a Cigarette Advertisement

While scouring the internet for advertisements that sexualize women I came across an anti-cigarette campaign that used blow-job symbolism.  In the original add the girl is a teenager and the man is at least middle-aged.  It is not necessary to make sexual innuendos to create advertisements, yet there are many ads out there using the objectification of women to sell their product.  Having such a polluted and saturated media creates a normalcy towards the sexualization and objectification of women.

I am a mother of a ten year old boy who is constantly exposed to women being demeaned in media (and not by choice because I don't even have television, but it's everywhere: billboards, flyers, etc.).  Our children are impressionable and this desensitizing him to objectification concerns me, greatly.  As a parent and certainly as a mother, I do my best to have conversations with him, but it's appalling the vastness of sexualized women that he is exposed to.

This video is just a few examples in a saturated pool I could have chose from that depict violence against women, sexualize them, demean them.  This expression often seen in the media suggest a power dichotomy between genders that have the ability to help influence a lack of respect for women; therefore, resulting in a trivializing of behavior associated with rape culture.  This leads me right into the topic of Porn and it's place for normalizing violence to women.  I watched the pornography documentary Hot Girls Wanted a couple of years ago and in it they stated that nearly 50% of porn videos explicit violence towards women.

Appropriation of a Porn Still

What does this saturation of violent porn movies instill in the minds of the viewers?

Quotes like the one from Tanya Burleson, a former porn actress, bring to question the effects that the normalization of women as objects have on the population, she states:

“Guys are punching you in the face. You get ripped. Your insides can come out of you. It’s never ending. You’re viewed as an object — not as a human with a spirit. People do drugs because they can’t deal with the way they’re being treated.” 

If a porn star has to drug themselves to numb their minds from the treatments they are experiencing, a reality that needs to be escaped because of the in-humaneness then what kind of message is being sent to the viewers.  When we see something over and over and over again it becomes normal: violence against women, objectification of women, trivialization of rape should never become expected or normal.

That quote was found in the 2015 Edition of Pornography Statistics created by Covenant Eyes.  They have compiled over 250 facts, quotes, and statistics about pornography use including the following:

In 2008, more than 560 college student responded to an online survey: 

18% of boys and 10% of girls have seen rape or sexual violence online.

In a meta-analysis of 46 studies published from 1962 to 1995, comprising a total sample of 12,323 people, researchers concluded pornographic material puts one at increased risk of:

1) developing sexually deviant tendencies (31% increase in risk) 

2) committing sexual offenses (22% increase in risk) 

3) accepting rape myths (31% increase in risk) 

Among perpetrators of sex crimes, adolescent exposure to pornography is a significant predictor of elevated violence and victim humiliation.

In a study of 187 female university students, researchers concluded early exposure to pornography was related to subsequent “rape fantasies” and attitudes supportive of sexual violence against women. Researchers believe pornography consumed at a young age contributes to women being socialized to accept sexual aggression as a sexual/romantic event.

The persistent pornographic experience that a large percentage of the population encounters delimits the view of woman and confines them to this idea of an object the message that is repeated over and over and over again is that woman are objects to be sexually assaulted and violated and that it is okay. These videos and images are easily accessible via phone, computer, television, magazines, advertisements, music, etc.  Every moment of the day the porn industry is throwing fuel on rape culture.

Appropriation of a Social Media Rape Joke

Rape is never a joke, nor should it ever be used as a topic of a joke.  This trivialization of rape so blatantly as a joke that can be laughed at also fuels rape culture, instilling it's acceptable to laugh at rape and trivialize it.  

The appropriation that I created above was a meme that went out across social media: suggesting that if a man cannot find a date in a traditional manner that it's acceptable to use a date rape drug to get what he wants.  

I've heard it many times walking down the road with a friend and a woman passes by, or standing in a bar near a provocatively dressed lady and I hear the muttered "she's asking for it" terms.  Nobody is ever asking for "it" and let's use the real word in it's place....Nobody is asking to be "raped".  This phrase that has been acceptable and manipulating on the mind to believe that somebody asks to be raped based on their clothing choice is just absurd.  This language that blames the victim normalizes rape.  "Of course he raped her, look what she was wearing, she was asking for it."

"She's a Liar", this one pulls at my heart strings.  I have dealt with friends of my rapist or family members of his that have doubted me.  I can say that being raped is difficult enough.  The addition of the call to question is a whole is a suffocation beyond no other that a victim should never encounter, should never feel.  The wound is deep, psychologically and physically deep, from being raped.

Our constitution--our judicial system-- perpetuates this "call to question" as it is set up for the offender and consists of nothing in it to protect our victims.  What there seems to be is a divide between listening to the victim and believing the process they are going through and the effects it has on them. Victim blaming and victimization happens repetitively throughout the court process while the rapist remains protected and free from accusations. It seems as though there is much concern from the jury who have the responsibility of this person's life at their hands, while the victim is accused again and again until the verdict is declared.

More times than not the jury finds the rapist not guilty, and I would suggest it is not because they aren't guilty-- only 2-6% percent of cases are false-- but the fractured system in which we have in place that has more concern for the rapist than the victim. What does the power of a legal system that has shown us it repetitively blames the victim do to the minds of the public.  This expands into society and gives people the idea that rape victims lie, they are more convinced that a rapist didn't rape that a victim was raped.  Our very own judicial system FUELS rape culture.

"In a survey by the National Center for the Prosecution of Violence Against Women, it's estimated that only 2-8 percent of rape accusations are false."  

And still people assume against these odds and accuse women of lying often, nearly every time a woman comes forward there is resistance towards believing her.  This is something I feel strongly that we must end!

Rape culture is when a judge blames a 10-year-old victim for her own rape.

When I was a fourteen going through the judicial process of charging my step-father with rape, the prosecutor asked me, "what were you wearing?" and told me "do you realize what you could do to his life (by going forward with the trial)?"  He blamed years of sexual abuse that started when I was nine years old on my clothes.  No amount or lack of clothing provokes a person to rape.

SlutWalk is a transnational movement of protest marches calling for an end to rape culture cofounded by Sonya JF Barnett in April 2011 who says, "We want Police Services to truly get behind the idea that victim-blaming, slut-shaming, and sexual profiling are never acceptable....media also has to get behind this idea." 

It's a freedom of expression to have the ability to adorn our bodies with whatever clothing one pleases.  It does not give a person the right to rape somebody or take advantage of a child, adult, woman, or man because of the what they wear and no judge should ever accuse a victim of their own rape.

"The idea that there is some aesthetic that attracts sexual assault or even keeps you safe from sexual assault is inaccurate, ineffective and even dangerous."

Rape Culture is when it's acceptable to slut-shame, victim-blame, and even worse to suggest a woman deserves to be raped because she was asking for it with the clothes that she was wearing rather than placing blame on the rapist.

Women on left is from the 2012 Chicago Slutwalk and I haven't found where the photo on the right was taken.

While I have struggled with the provocative dressing and what that does for the image of women and how the representation effects how the person is perceived, whether it is rightly so or not, there isn't ever a time when a woman asks to be raped because the clothes she wears nor does her psyche need to be broken down through language that dehumanizes her.

Victimization and victim blaming are pervasive in the judicial systems and among social contexts. Resulting in neglecting the victim of the compassion and sensitivity they need and deserve.

Rape Culture is when the rapist's career is valued before victim.  Often times celebrities, athletes, or people in high power have been noted this.  This is expressed through media, as seen in the case of Brock Turner, the rapist who was given a lenient sentence--a disgraceful 6 month--and released for good behavior half way through--he only served 3 months for raping an unconscious girl!!!--- The media often mentioned him as an athlete at Stanford rather than a rapist.  I would also like to mention that his father was quoted saying, "steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action", well surely, this must account for most criminals currently in jail.

"All over the world, women are constantly made to feel like victims, told they should not look a certain way, should not go out at night, should not go into certain areas, should not get drunk, should not wear high heels or make-up, should not be alone with someone they don't know.  Not only does this divert attention away from the real cause of the crime-- the perpetrator-- but it creates a culture where rape is OK, where it's allowed to happen."

“Rape culture is victim-blaming… Rape culture is tasking victims with the burden of rape prevention. Rape culture is encouraging women to take self-defense as though that is the only solution required to preventing rape. Rape culture is admonishing women to ‘learn common sense’ or ‘be more responsible’ or ‘be aware of barroom risks’ or ‘avoid these places’ or ‘don’t dress this way,’ and failing to admonish men to not rape.” McEwan

Statistics show that people are more inclined to blame a victim if she had been drinking yet alcohol is considered the number one date rape drug.  Judge Males blamed rape victim for drinking too much and he isn't the first.  He says, "she had been "extremely foolish for getting so drunk she was left vulnerable and defenseless.

The controversy is valid.  What if a woman was drinking and gave consent and then regrets it later. This is a separate issue and not rape.  Rape culture is assuming that because a woman was drinking she is at fault.  It's when a judge like Mr Justice Males convicts the two men accused for rape and then still blames the victim for drinking and becoming vulnerable.

The theory of rape culture is highly controversial with a large resistance against the idea that our culture promotes rape.  I question the validity of this and wonder if it just another aversion that actually adds to the idea of rape culture because now we have the public questioning whether the girl was just drinking and asking for it.

This visual series is a representation that I see between the actions, the people, the truth in light of rape culture to show what it looks.  I will actively speak against this until rape culture ends.

Appropriation As a Rhetorical Strategy

Rape Culture, as I have discussed in previous blogs, is a social activism series that I created combining images and texts.  Including in the series were appropriations of an advertisement, a rape joke, and a porn still.  Appropriative reproach is a useful way to persuade an audience to see beyond the original "work" into a more thorough understanding of the social implications that it makes.

I decided quite some years ago that my expression of communication via images and text are mostly social activism, as I have a passion to spreading awareness and enlightening issues that are repressive towards individuals: rape, violence, child abuse, etc.  I feel that this is my outlet and way to help bring people together by finding avenues to breaking down dichotomies and systems that divide each other.

Bansky: Activist or Not?!

Bansky is an England-based graffiti artist and political activist.  But there are some people who question the validity of whether or not is a an activist.  Can a Graffiti artist be an activist?  I say....Why Not??!


There are two versions of the definition of activism that I want to point out in relation to whether or not Bansky can be considered an activist. 

The first definition is found in the Webster Dictionary says that activism is: a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.  Sure, according to this definition what constitutes direct vigorous action, so can art consitute as activism?

Well according to this definition on wikipedia, a social platform:

Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, or environmental change, or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society and to change society. Forms of activism range from writing letters to newspapers or to politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, and hunger strikes. One can also express activism through different forms of art (Artivism).BUT DOES GRAFFITI COUNT AS ART?! Is the common question and debate I hear, some consider it vandalism, however, in my eyes, what's different for "hanging a piece of art" or painting murals on walls, versus graffiti.  So Yes, Bansky is an activist, and in my 'eyes' a successful political artist/activist.  Here are a couple of my favorite images.

I would say that if the art makes a political/social statement, as these two images certainly do, it has the viewers thinking which is all any activist can aim for to persuade the audience.

Emoticons: Are They Worthless, Disgraceful, or Actually Helpful?!

If you ever get a text from me, most likely you will also get the emoticon of a facial expression or heart or something that I feel adds to what the words cannot.  I have often wondered, is this childish?! Is this helpful, silly, unecessary, and I have come to this conclusion: When we talk to people in person there is a nonverbal body language that each experiences, that one does not get through text messages or IMs in general.  I find that these emoticons can really help out, if say a message is sarcastic and you don't want it to be taken seriously, loving but could be confused as otherwise, ets.

So when I read this comment on the opposition of using emoticons, "Attacks are often centered on the ambiguity of the emoticon" in the article titled, Conventional Faces: Emoticons in Instant Messaging Discourse,  I personally disagreed.  These emoticons I find narrow down the ambiguity of words that could be taken out of context.

In my experience, I use emoticons strictly for text and some emails and social media posts, I have never used them otherwise.  In that same article the opposition states, "Emoticons, specifically, have been scrutinized by language scholars from fields as diverse as psychology, neuroscience, and sociolinguistics as “an unnecessary and unwelcome intrusion into a well-crafted text”"

I would say that is a big leap, to suggest that they are an "unnecessary and unwelcome intrusion into a well-crafted text".  I would say that it depends on the text, and often times texts are on limited time, and people don't have the ability to craft with words the lengthy text it may take to fully express the idea and could use an emoticon instead.  I know personally, since I write very long texts usually, that a friend of mine says "I always know when I get a text from you because my phone goes off multiple times"....meaning multiple texts.  They come out of order and are confusing for her, and so I try to shorten them now.

The Power of Video

I browsed Youtube to check out some video essay's on Rape Culture for research on my multimodal project.  I came across this interview on the #SRShow in which the interviewed person talks against the acceptance of rape culture, denying it's existence and blaming feminists in creating this ideology.  

The ability we have as individuals to create whatever type of video we want and the accessibility of spreading it to the masses makes the knowledge that is shared, persuasive, and possibly effective for naive minds.  

I found the interview to be a man not able to identify with rape and therefore resisting the idea of rape culture.  He has sound arguments and ideas that help to place value on the importance of not denying rape, yet uses language to to create an effective argument against the feminists that have come up with this idea of rape culture.  Rape Culture is the idea that rape is normalized and thus the victim is blamed.  This concept is not able to be denied, the mass media certainly promotes rape culture and therefore, it has entered into everyday life through multiple examples.  What is important is embracing this idea and figuring out what to do about it, not to resist it.  I find that he isn't rhetorically listening to those who believe in the existence of rape culture and why, he is refusing to identify with it and therefore resisting against it.

I had to share this interview, because although I find it repulsive, I agree with some of his comments and I also feel that it exemplifies the power that people have in a social media space and to put question on what that means to have the freedom to create videos that counter very important theories.

Below is an example of a video essay on consent.  I find that the power of this video speaks loudly on the power of multimodal texts.  It is a simple cartoon drawing and a narrator and yet incredibly POWERFUL.   

Abstract: MOAR Digital Activism, Please

In her article titled MOAR Digital Activism, Please, Lauri Goodling discusses the implication of activism in the digital world and whether or not it is an acceptable platform.  She uses data from multiple surveys to show why it is not universally valued, yet counters the opposition with sound reasoning being as objective as possible from both sides of the debate.  The main argument is whether the addition of online social media avenues are acceptable forms of activism in the rhetorical world and she concludes with the fact that discourse extends beyond words on the page, although there is resistance against this digital rhetorical world there have been examples even in the 60s when imagery began to influence activism and this is extending into these social media platforms as well. She sums it up with the fact that any way to get our voices heard is what matters, therefore suggesting that activism in the digital world is most definitely acceptable.

Multimodal Revision: Language Matters

In Rape Culture, a research paper that I wrote a year ago, there's a section that I talk about the commonly offensive language used in our everyday language that are sexualizing and perverted, phrases like: "suck my dick", "fuck yourself", "hit on someone", "throw like a girl", "you're a pussy", "you know she wanted it".  There are implications of these phrases that I want to take the time to point out, because words shape perceptions and I want to expose what exactly that means.

 I am considering that it would be nice to implement videos that exemplify this.  Just short clips of examples of each of these phrases and some more that put these phrases into action showing how normalizing it is within our language and then have a description about the effects of using such language and the implications that rape culture suggests, by using these phrases we are normalizing the ideas and creating a trivialization of what the words are actually saying.

Here is an example on youtube: https://youtu.be/wuk1qLOw17g

I'm pondering on the idea of using a TedTalk interview of Language and Rape Culture given by Kayce Singletary & Alexis Stratton. https://youtu.be/tss23dx9KrY
In this video, these two women do a great job of explaining language and the link between rape culture.

"Rape culture is the culture that condones and surrounds us that expects sexual violence and gender base violence to happen and it happens through the language that we use."Kayce Singletary

This is just one example of rape culture and how language sets up power differences that provides a platform that women become more passive towards men. Words have power and they have meaning, this point of the visual series I created is to exemplify this.  To show what happens when we create a language that normalizes rape.

My Multimodal Project

Rape Culture is a research paper that I wrote for a class that I created a visual series representing what exactly rape culture "looks" like.  Since the class was my senior capstone for my degree in Photography the images were not combined with the research that I put into my paper, as it was meant to succeed as a visual representation without needing a description.

By creating a web page with these images and descriptions found within the research paper and other sources I can fully express what each image represents to narrow down the "visual" element with the textual evidence/elements.

I will also be able to include clips of a song that is considered a contributing factor (as many out there exist) of a normalizing of "rape".

The internet will be the accessibility for this project as it is a platform to reach many people in order to enlighten on what exactly "rape culture" is and how we can work to create an anti-rape culture.  By creating a web-page I can upload it to multiple blogs as well as my own and other websites geared towards spreading this awareness.

Here is one of the images that I will be working with, among many others.  This girl is just a model that was used in the making of the project to project text that is commonly said towards rape victims.  "She didn't say No" has been used many times in the defense of men that basically says, if you don't say no the body is a right of passage to do with what one pleases.

The idea is that by juxtaposing these words that represent rape culture onto images that it better expresses to what it actually means when words like this are said.

I will be able to explain each created image along with the statistics about rape and information on rape that I put into my research paper, in hopes to further exemplify this world called rape culture.