‘Tool of Empowerment’: The Rhetorical Vision of Title Nine

• Authors: Aimee Edmondson
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This study of the mail order catalog Title Nine, a California-based women's athletic clothing company, employs symbolic convergence theory and fantasy theme analysis through the context of third wave feminism. The catalog, named after the federal law in the United States that was intended to equalize opportunities between men's and women's participation in sports, creates a distinct social reality in an effort to empower readers. Similar studies have analyzed stereotypical representations of women in magazines and advertising. However, this study offers insight into a newly emerging phenomenon in a niche market, the mail-order catalog, and in the artifact under study, it offers a medium where creators intend to do more than sell women's clothing. Within fantasy theme analysis is the fantasy type, a moral or social more that repeats itself through various actors or settings within the artifact. Four fantasy types put forth by Title Nine have been identified by the researcher, including a.) "I am superwoman," b.) "I am a mom," c.) "I am an advocate for women," and d.) "I can be anything."

Keywords

EN

Fantasy theme analysis; symbolic convergence theory; third wave feminism; Title Nine; rhetoric; stereotypes

• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Journal: Lodz Papers in Pragmatics
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 135-154

Dates

published

2011-01-01

online

2011-10-04

Contributors

author

Aimee Edmondson

• Ohio University, Athens

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10016-011-0006-5