Feminism and Public Address

• In Event: Stability and Change in Public Address Research

Abstract

Feminism’s intersections with public address scholarship are multiple and varied. One may speak of feminism as a topic for the rhetors that public address scholars study; in fact, feminism’s earliest link to public address research is through the study of feminist orators. One may also speak of feminism as a theory, methodology, or critical perspective that informs the work of public address scholars. This sense of feminism developed later in public address scholarship, and its presence sometimes is implicit. Finally, and most foundationally, one may use “feminism” to refer to a social and political movement that has spanned centuries and that has had, at different moments, a variety of goals but a consistent commitment to “gender justice.” Feminist public address scholarship has from its beginnings been influenced by the interplay of these multiple meanings of feminism. This essay discusses the development of these foci over the past half century as well as recommends future directions for feminist research in public address

Author

• Bonnie Dow, Vanderbilt University