It's all your fault: Kenneth Burke, symbolic action, and the assigning of guilt and blame to women

• French, Sandra L. ^[1] ; Brown, Sonya C. ^[2]
  1. [1] Radford University

     Radford University

     Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] Fayetteville State University

     Fayetteville State University

     Township of Cross Creek, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Southern communication journal, ISSN 1041-794X, Vol. 76, nº 1, 2011, págs. 1-16
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This article uses Kenneth Burke’s concept of agency and, more specifically, the dialectic tension between symbolic action (SA) and nonsymbolic motion (NSM) to investigate two contemporary social controversies: obesity and sexual assault. We argue that situations involving loss of control over the body can be felt as symbolic acts and important failures requiring rhetorical solutions. The issues of obesity and sexual assault both embody linguistic choices that oppress and control women’s perceptions of agency and their ability to free themselves from guilt and shame. Through our analysis of representative narra- tives surrounding the ‘‘sins’’ of appetite and desire, we reveal how the concept of agency underlies and vexes debates over obesity and acquaintance rape and complicates the allocation of blame