Date of Graduation
12-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Communication (MA)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Communication
Advisor/Mentor
Corrigan, Lisa
Committee Member
Neville-Shepard, Ryan M.
Second Committee Member
Aloia, Lindsey S.
Keywords
gay publications; gay rights; LGBTQ; queer periodicals; queer publications; queer rhetoric
Abstract
This thesis uses analysis of constitutive rhetoric and queer archival methods to examines how The Advocate used assimilationist rhetoric and consumerist rhetoric in fundamentally anti-democratic ways to consolidate the form of ideal gay consumer-citizenship. Focusing on the first three years of the publication, I utilize queer theory and theories of citizenship and political economy to explain how The Advocate’s rhetoric and mainstream success allowed the publication to normalize a limited and politically weak gay identity. This thesis argues The Advocate’s rhetoric of exclusion, authority, and consumerism were three central features shaping ideal gay consumer-citizenship as most available to people who have privileged and normative identities, making appeals to mainstream authority rather than working within queer communities, and replacing activism with consumption.
Citation
Butcher-Spellman, C. B. (2020). Assimilating through Consumption: A Rhetorical History of the Early Years of The Advocate. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3844
Included in
Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
