NYMA:
Mother Always Said
Sonja K. Foss and Karen A. Foss (2009) interestingly suggested that our reinterpretation of a situation is a key outcome of invitational rhetoric, noting that it is within our bounds to reframe the way we see problems to locate the potential within them. We must reinterpret our situations to untie our own bindings, to achieve the ends we would like to see. If we consider this within the context of the marriage plot, and the marriage that we have entered into is one with the rhetorical concept of argument, then invitational rhetoric provides the backdrop against which we can redefine. Yes, we enjoy teaching and we make choices to be able to participate in that even when the situations are not ideal; we can choose to offer our invitations for talking and learning about writing semester after semester to new groups of individuals to see who might join us in conversations where we can both/all be changed. Similarly with our scholarship, within the framework of invitational rhetoric, we put our ideas out there freely, with the expectation that in many ways they are like art, and that we are offering conversational openings for prospective conversations based around our experiences and ideas.
If we no longer feel compelled to argue, then are we free of the expectations that have limited and dismissed our experiences?
“The marriage plot requires that women’s roles, even in academic work, be supportive and nurturing. Women should be satisfied and fulfilled by low-paying, low-status teaching jobs.” (Eileen Schell, 1998, p. 81)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Redefining the marriage plot
