Rhetorical Analysis Draft

Kiki Daffan

Topic: Fashion as a form of protest

Magazine Article with interviews

Fashion as Protest

Following the election of Donald Trump women took to social media and created an event that would later be the 2017 Women’s March. Women took to facebook and all other forms of social media in order calling people to march and protest to show solidarity for women, minorities, immigrants, and everyone that was marginalized and hurt by the rhetoric of Trump’s campaign. They called for people to take action, same as the phrase nasty women did after the third and final debate. People were being called to action, called to fight for their rights by their fellow citizens. People gathered and participated in what would become the largest peaceful demonstration in history, we made history on January 17, 2017. But how did we make history? We made history because we had a cause that people rallied behind they rallied behind it because fighting for what’s right is worth it. The same ideology that is behind the phrase nasty women was behind the women’s march and another way in which people showed their support and protest was through fashion. Fashion as protest was not a new way in which people expressed their opinions. During the women’s suffrage movement women wore uniforms to show that they were in unity and could join the workforce, during slutwalks people wore what was deemed to be slutty to prove the point that women are not asking to be raped, and then the women’s march used the pussy hats to show solidarity and convey a message to the new administration. Movements throughout history have used fashion as protest to show administrations what they want for the future of America and what they believe. Now we will hear from one of the women’s march coordinators Tamika Mallory and her thoughts on this idea of women using fashion as protest

Interviewer: Hello Tamika how are you today?

Tamika: I’m doing well, I’m excited to discuss the worldwide protest that occurred on behalf of women’s rights, immigration reform, healthcare reform, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, racial equality and equality in general. While the marches that occurred on January 21st were a part of the larger protests of the current U.S. president Donald Trump, the Women’s March that took place this year made history as the largest protest in history, and I can’t wait to share my insight and thoughts on the use of fashion as protest and how that worked to get the message about they type of America we (the citizens) want to live in.

Interviewer: So what was the main form of fashion that protestors used during the women’s march?

Tamika: The pussy hats were definitely the most widely used was the pussy hat which were being bought and made by women and protesters everywhere it was really a sight to see all those pussy hats marching down the street in solidarity unified under one cause.

Interviewer: Yes it certainly was the images taken of the women’s march were certainly powerful! So what was the purpose of the pussy hats and using fashion as protest?

Tamika: Well I think that our original intent of the pussy hat has grown at first it was only meant to be a symbol of solidarity but it has since evolved to become a symbol for an ideology. An ideology that women are equal to men, that the future is female, that women can break the glass ceiling, the hat come to represent so much more than a play on the insult that Donald Trump said to women everywhere (grab em by the pussy). The hat has come to be a symbol of hope and the values that people were marching for. The pussy hat began to symbolize each and everyone of the ideologies and commonplaces that the protesters gathered to raise their voices about.

Interviewer: The Pussy hat certainly has grown into something more than simply a symbol of solidarity it has even become a project and group known as the pussy hat project. What are your thoughts on that.

Tamika: Quite simply the organization is taking the hat and creating meaning behind it quite simply the purpose of the pussy hat is about women refusing to be erased from political discussion they are using the hats as a way to keep the conversation going about women’s rights they are using the hat to make sure people don’t forget and move on before real change occurs or can occur.

Interviewer: So is there a mission of the pussy hat? Can fashion have a mission? Can fashion have an impact? I think a lot of our readers are wondering this, how can fashion have such a large impact on protest.

Tamika: Well to answer these questions the pussy hat is the perfect example because the pussy hat truly shows how fashion can have an impact on the protest, the ideologies of the people and help unify people. The pussy hat was created as a symbol for women marchers to wear to the women’s march so that they could be unified by a single symbol a single image, because that is the legacy and power of protests the images and ideas that stick with and follow people around in their daily lives reminding them of the ideologies that are being fought for and the commonplaces that are being established. The pussy hat was created under the american commonplace that everyone can participate, it’s original intention was so that people who could not come out to the march could still be a part of the movement and still perform their civic duty and be a part of democracy.

Interviewer: What message did the Pussy hat send to the new administration?

Tamika: I feel that the pussy hat helped send the message that we as American’s will not bow down and give up our rights that we will fight, that we have the right to fight and that you can’t take that away from us just as the new administration cannot take our rights away because we do live in a democracy. I feel like the pussy hat helped remind people of that and was also a way in which they could stick one to the administration.

Analyze the pussy hat as means for performing our civic duty reference Hillary Clinton’s speech because it was all in response to a call to action I feel like I could maybe do a second interview here going into more depth about how the pussy hat is working within the social and historical context to remind people and help them do their civic duty and participate in democracy.

Conclusion: Overall how fashion as protest has been used historically and in modern times as an agent to enact change, bring people together, and help a movement be more effective. I want to use the pussy hat as my main artifact because I feel like that one is the fashion that has the most meaning to the women’s march and that is the context that I was planning on focusing on I feel like this will wrap up the magazine article nicely.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *