Date of Graduation
12-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Communication (MA)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Communication
Advisor/Mentor
Lisa Corrigan
Committee Member
Ryan Neville-Shepard
Second Committee Member
Lindsey Aloia
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