While rhetoric is often equated with sleazy politics and deceptive advertising, it would be a shame not to acknowledge its ability to create beneficial cultural change. Lloyd Bitzer classifies rhetoric as “a mode of altering reality”, so why can’t we admit that this alteration may be for the best?
When searching for a topic for this week’s blog post, I thought it might be interesting to investigate a rhetorical issue of great significance on the Penn State campus. I have inserted a photo abobe that offers a frightening, yet all too accurate, statistic: one in five women will be a victim of sexual assault during her college years. This visual was created by the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State and has been distributed throughout the campus.
It would be foolish to deny that Penn State has earned a “party school” reputation. What usually accompanies excessive party culture is a certain level of risk, which unfortunately includes a prominence of sexual assault. The terrible effects of such violence and the desire to exterminate this behavior, provide the exigence of the rhetorical situation, the motive for the creation of the poster.
While this issue appears to be local, finding a home at the Penn State campus, it is undoubtedly national. The popularity of the #MeToo campaign, paired with the publicized stories of Hollywood actresses accusing male coworkers of sexual assault, is damning evidence of the problem’s extensive scale.
One can argue that this rhetorical situation is even global, especially when considering the alarming prevalence of sex trafficking in countries such as China, Russia, and Iran. The massive size of the issue alone implies that the rhetorical situation is inevitably open-ended, unable to be solved in a short period of time. Until sexual assault is truly eradicated the rhetorical situation will continue to marinate, and the likelihood of such eradication ever being achieved is regrettably unlikely.
If the scope of the situation can be considered global, one must also understand that the situation’s audience is global as well. While the audience may have originated as a small group of female students on Penn State’s campus- interested in bringing awareness to the problem- it surely grew to the majority of PSU students, and then to an immeasurable amount of people after the photo was shared online. Bitzer argues that the rhetorical audience is not simply anyone who has viewed the poster, but anyone who is actually “capable of being influenced” by rhetoric and willing is to create change. This definition may narrow down the broad assumed audience, but a vast amount of citizens are concerned with the issue of sexual assault and therefore qualify as true rhetorical audience members.
Of course, the exigence and audience of the rhetorical situation are relevant and significant when evaluating this issue, but what rhetorical techniques does the poster actually employ? Is the photo persuasive? Is it truly successful in enacting societal change?
The poster combines all three of Aristotle’s rhetorical classifications. Obviously, logos is utilized through the basic statistic. While the poster only offers one statistic and its logical information could be considered relatively sparse, it is still incredibly impactful to the audience, because ethos and pathos are also employed.
The credibility of the poster’s creators is established by the Rock Ethics Institute and the Penn State logos, both showing the legitimacy of the institutions. A link is also offered at the bottom of the poster that allows viewers to further investigate the statistic and the organization from which it was extended.
The creators used eye popping visuals, specifically a female constructed from words like “you, daughter, mentor, and classmate”, that attempt to build the perception that women are not objects but real human beings. These images, as well the call to action: “Stand Up, Speak Up,” appeal to the audience’s emotions.
This blog post cannot conclude until what may be the most important question is answered: Is the poster truly successful in enacting societal change? In some ways yes, but in some ways no. Unfortunately, I do not believe that by simply viewing this poster a serial rapist will see the error in his or her ways and cease to continue his or her behavior. The rhetorical value of the poster stems from its ability to promote awareness, rather than enact direct behavioral changes. However, the first step towards behavioral changes is attracting mainstream attention, and for that reason, the poster is a rhetorical success.