Essay On Rhetorical Studies

Critical rhetorical studies of mass media are crucial in terms of both critiquing social norms and viewing media as a critique of modern society. By its nature mass media has typically been part of big business and therefor part of the establishment; in general we should expect that its rhetorical message (programing) would reflect the values and views of the establishment which is white straight male and essentially patriarchal. The liberal feminist criticism while useful in critiquing media up until the 1980’s loses much of its value as its influence on the media has resulted in more programing that reflect the values of liberal feminism. For example Kate and Ali and Murphy Brown were both shows about independent women recreating family in a man’s world without traditional male support.
To be sure TV and other media has never evolved into a hot bed of liberal feminism but as more women take the role of newscasters and also as leads in detective shows, the liberal feminist critique …show more content…
It would seem to me that HG TV is a network populated by the marginalized voices of women, gay men, lesbians and people of color. The straight white male is frequently a worker who takes direction from a member of a marginalized group. In line with the hypothesis that HG TV is a space for marginalized voices is its content. The programing at its core is about transforming the world if only one room, yard or house at a time. It is about taking that part of the world you can control and transforming it into the world you want it to. Similarly it seems that by its nature the genera of Science fiction exists as both a critique of modern society and as suggestion for what a world without patriarchy could look like. The establishment has a vested interest in molding the publics understating of the past, and of the world we live in, but the realm of Science Fiction is there for the