TEXTS OF EMPOWERMENT: A FUNCTIONAL RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF MS. MAGAZINE IN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS

Abstract

Ms. was the first mass mediated feminist magazine in the United States and has often been identified as an icon of the feminist movement. This study examines three rhetorical sites in the magazine during the first five years of publication including the relationship between the readers and the magazine as developed in letters to the editor, the rhetorical depictions of men and the rhetorical depictions of women as portrayed in the letters, the articles, the editorial content and the covers. From a functional perspective, each chapter examines the messages in Ms. in relation to their intended function for the readers. Chapter one introduces the magazine and justifies its importance as a rhetorical artifact. Chapter two examines the letters to the editor arguing that the treatment of the letters in Ms. created a consciousness-raising forum in the magazine which included the most effective aspects of second wave consciousness-raising and broadened the method in a mediated forum. Chapter three examines the depiction of men in the magazine focusing on the use of Kenneth Burke's concept of secular redemption to create a new vision of masculinity. Chapter four analyzes the rhetorical process of conversion to feminist ideals and the promotion of the new woman in Ms. Chapter five suggests that Ms. was rhetorically effective in creating mediated consciousness-raising forum, redefining masculinity to carve out room from sympathetic men in mainstream feminism and mapping a process for women to recognize and fight gendered oppression.