Changing Perceptions, Changing Conditions: The Material Rhetoric of the Red Hat Society

Rhetoric Review Oct 2013

Changing Perceptions, Changing Conditions: The Material Rhetoric of the Red Hat Society

Jamie White-Farnham University of Wisconsin–Superior

Abstract

The Red Hat Society, an international social club for women over age fifty, offers its members a social outlet during aging. Departing from a common focus on members' emotional health, a rhetorical lens on the red and purple hats and costumes the women wear offers a new consideration of the groups' value. Particularly, the creation and donning of “regalia” by members of a Rhode Island chapter constitute instances of material rhetoric, or texts that challenge public perceptions of aging women and provide rhetorical opportunities that aging women take to change the conditions of their own and other women's lives.

Journal: Rhetoric Review
Published: 2013-10-01
DOI: 10.1080/07350198.2013.828552
Open Access: Closed
Topics: body and rhetoric

Citation Context

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Cites in this index (1)

Marback (1998)

Detroit and the closed fist: Toward a theory of material rhetoric<sup>1</sup>

Rhetoric Review

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