“Just let this sink in”: Feminist<i>Megethos</i>and the Role of Lists in #MeToo — Rhetoric & Composition

Rhetoric Review Oct 2019

“Just let this sink in”: Feminist<i>Megethos</i>and the Role of Lists in #MeToo

Stephanie R. Larson Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract

The #MeToo movement unveiled a shifting testimonial landscape available to victims of sexual assault, one that was able to apprehend the attention of vast public audiences unlike other protests before it. Through an analysis of published #MeToo tweets and public discussion of them, this essay argues that what happened during #MeToo reveals a feminist deployment of megethos. Theorizing what I term feminist megethos through the lens of listing extends theories of magnitude beyond the idea of cultivating coherence or amounting excessive detail, toward a theory that captures how megethos can puncture pervasive yet normalized attitudes that constrain efforts for justice.

Journal: Rhetoric Review
Published: 2019-10-02
DOI: 10.1080/07350198.2019.1655304
Open Access: Closed
Topics: argument

Citation Context

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CrossRef global citation count: 9 View in citation network →