Emily
Shuler
3/23/15
Rhetorical
Criticism
Blog
3
Word Count: 500
Since I am analyzing the meme “Binders… Full of Women” I
think it is appropriate that I utilize ideological criticism. This criticism is
best used when “critics are interested in rhetoric primarily for what it
suggests about beliefs and values.” Since the meme I choose is politically laden
as well as invokes a variety of responses from those who care about equal
rights between men and women, this meme deals directly with people’s ideology,
or “mental framework.”
In the text, they show how ideology is a set of
beliefs. They use the example of
immigration. There are varying
ideologies when it comes to immigration; “too many people come to our country…
immigrants only come here to live off welfare… the government must send back
illegal immigrants.” Just as these statements reveal an ideology, or the “language,
concepts, categories, imagery of thought, and the systems of representation
that a group deploys to make sense of and define the world or some aspect of
it,” so does the “Binders… Full of Women” meme.
This meme provoked a variety of responses which reveal
the differences in ideologies. For
women, this meme seemed to reinforce the ideology that women do not have an
equal place in government. Additionally,
for women this meme reinforced the ideology that women do not have a place or
say in government like males do. Third,
this meme showed the ideology that women think it’s time for government to
change because there are not equal opportunities for women.
On the other hand, this meme revealed Romney’s ideology
about women and their place in government. The phrase, “binders full of women”
shows how Romney’s ideology places women in a different category then men. Therefore, once it was transformed into the
meme it shows that women have a lower status then men because “women do not
belong in binders” according to SFgate.com.
The meme created from Romney’s famous words reveals both positive and
negative ideologies about women’s place in government.
If I didn’t choose ideological criticism to analyze my
meme I would choose fantasy-theme criticism which is “designed to provide
insights into the shared worldview of groups.”
“When people have a shared fantasy theme, they have charged that theme
with meanings and emotions that can be set off by an agreed-upon cryptic
symbolic cue, whether a code word, phrase, slogan, or nonverbal sign or gesture.” The “Binders… Full of Women” meme created a
shared fantasy theme for different groups of people. Women could interpret the meme differently
from men, just like women could interpret the meme differently from
republicans. Fantasy themes provide
assumptions about ways of thinking about things. That is why fantasy-theme criticism may be
useful to interpret the different assumptions about the meaning of the “Binders…
Full of Women” meme.
Overall, ideological criticism seems to be the best
choice for analyzing my meme “Binders… Full of Women.” Since this meme deals so heavily with people’s
personal beliefs and the way they view the world, ideological criticism is the
best choice.
Yes, I think you choose exactly the right method with Ideological criticism!
ReplyDeleteClearly, when a prominent politician makes a gaffe of this sort, it can change the course of the election. Sometimes, the gaffe was a case of poor judgment (like when George Allen called a photographer who was an intern for the opposition party "Macaca" at a public event); and sometimes - like with this one - the comment is intended one way but able to be interpreted the other. Romney didn't realize he'd said something wrong here, and subsequently insisted that he had meant that there were many, many female candidates who were qualified for positions in his organization. His pleas fell on deaf ears, as the shared theme overwhelmed any effort he made to re-interpret the comment. The overall theme of the "Republican War on Women" is derived, in part, from these sorts of comments, and that became a very compelling ideological narrative - it remains very potent even today.
I'm not sure if we had also discussed expanding beyond a single image + caption meme? I can imagine that "Binders full of..." may have become a meme on it's own - I can also imagine pictures of Mitt Romney being used in all sorts of "99% v 1%" ways. Mr. Romney was both enormously wealthy as well as being an investment banker whose firm had staged multiple, hostile corporate takeovers, which made him an easy target for ridicule and political satire. He seemed almost oblivious to this, however. Interestingly, despite the fact that President Obama won the election fairly handily, Mr. Romney was caught by surprise at the result - which is another indicator of political obliviousness.
You are on a good track! Let me know how I can help.