Rhetorical Crit BLOG 2

RHET CRIT BLOG 2

Emily Shuler

Rhet. Crit.

2/23/15

Blog 2

Word Count: 508

            Although no previous rhetorical criticism analyses on Romney’s “binders… full of women” meme exist, other analyses of politically meaningful memes do. “The Pleasure and Play of Pepper Spray Cop Photoshop" meme is an exploration of how a politically laden meme is a “small unit of cultural information that spreads through a population” and how important it is to understand a meme’s “communicative significance” (Sci & Dare, 2014).  Additionally, Sci and Dare (2014) emphasize that memes have the ability to “to capture attention and shift public discourse” (Sci & Dare, 2014).  
              By examining Sci and Dare’s (2014) methods to critiquing the “Pepper Spray Cop” memes, I can examine how to utilize their method in relation to my own meme.  In Sci and Dare’s (2014) critique they started with a focus on “the surface of discourse.”  They claim the “Pepper Spray Cop” meme can be analyzed and critiqued in three memetic styles: political disputation, iconographic juxtaposition, and cultural absurdity (Sci & Dare, 2014).  Sci and Dare (2014) go on to explain how the meme represents the controversy the incident ignited (political disputation), how the meme linked Lt. John Pike to injustice (iconographic juxtaposition), and how ridiculous and inappropriate his actions were (cultural absurdity). They also point out how the “Pepper Spray Cop” meme can be unpacked as humorous, political satire that calls attention to unacceptable behavior and calls for change (Sci & Dare, 2014).  Therefore, Sci and Dare (2014) conclude that this meme is significant because of how it “shapes the mindsets, forms of behavior, and actions of social groups.”         

            After researching how Sci and Dare (2014) critically examined the “Pepper Spray Cop” meme, I learned a little bit about how to apply their research to my politically laden meme, “Binders… full of women.”  As the Lt. John Pike’s “Pepper Spray Cop” meme was unpacked as “political disputation, iconographic juxtaposition, and cultural absurdity,” I believe Romney’s “Binders… full of women” meme fits these categories (Sci & Dare (2014).  The “Binders… full of 
 women” meme represents how Romney’s actions caused political uproar for women (political disputation), how he linked himself to being out of touch with women (iconographic juxtaposition), and how Romney’s expression was named a “cultural absurdity” because women do not belong in binders.

            Sci and Dare (2014) concluded that the patterns in the “Pepper Spray Cop Photoshop” memes positioned Lt. John Pike’s poor behavior to be linked with his name for the long haul.  Therefore, from Sci and Dare’s (2014) critical perspective, I conclude that the “binders… full of women” meme positioned Romney’s poor choice in words to be linked to his name for a long time.  By seeing how
 Sci and Dare (2014) unpacked the cultural meaning of the “Pepper Spray Cop Meme,” I was able to see how the “Binders… full of women” meme can be unpacked in several ways.  At the start of this course, I would have never thought that a meme could be examined by a scholarly, critical analysis.  Yet, overall, I now understand the practicality and the reasons behind critically analyzing a meme. 

Reference

Sci, S. A., & Dare, A. M. (2014). The Pleasure and Play of Pepper Spray Cop Photoshop Memes. Northwest Journal Of Communication, 42(1), 7-34.