23 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2018
    1. Keegan claimed one prominent feminist sent a hurtful email stating that “only women get pregnant and anyone who’s pretending otherwise is deluded.” He said he fears the pussyhat symbolism reinforces those notions.

      The author of the email uses specific word choice that communicates their tone as highly dismissive. Specifically, the word "pretending" characterizes the opposing view as irrational and on the basis of no fact. The author takes this a step further by flat out calling those possessing the opposing view "delusional".

    2. Keegan claimed one prominent feminist sent a hurtful email stating that “only women get pregnant and anyone who’s pretending otherwise is deluded.” He said he fears the pussyhat symbolism reinforces those notions.

      Here, the linguistic mode is employed by the author of that email and Keegan himself. By characterizing the email as hurtful prior to the audience reading what was said, Keegan influences the perspective they would have on the content of the email.

    3. “A lot of the reasons [transgender women] are attacked is because they do not possess that piece of anatomy,” Keegan explained.

      By linking transgender sexual assault to the anatomical possession of a vagina... after introducing statistics supporting the fact that transgender individuals have a higher rate of experiencing sexual violence than cisgender women, Compton emphasizes Keegan's argument.

    4. “If people were really paying attention to reproductive rights they would know that in many, many states in the U.S., transgender people are required to become sterilized to change our [legal] genders,” Keegan said.

      This highlights the rhetorical power word choice has in presenting a point of view. By making this an "if, then" statement, Keegan implies that those who support the pink 'pussyhat' in the name of "reproductive rights" aren't actually being sincere in their claim to inclusion of transgender individuals.

    5. “But I don’t want to shy away from the fact that it does refer to the female reproductive organ,” Suh said. “That’s a huge issue right now. How can women’s rights supporters of any gender… protect these literal reproductive parts from unfair legislation?”

      The placement of this quote directly after Suh's explanation that the hat is a metaphor for "any person or group who can relate to feeling marginalized" is an example of spatial mode. By doing this, Compton exposes the paradox in having an item that physically represents a pink vagina be a metaphor for "any person or group who can relate to feeling marginalized".

    6. But controversy exploded around the hat online. Aside from getting criticized over its reference to genitalia, the knitters were accused of excluding women of color. Some of the hat’s critics believed the its pinkness was a reference to flesh tone.

      The abruptness of the first sentence was intentional on Compton's part, contrasting the description of The Pussyhat Project's success at the Women's March and presence on the cover of Time Magazine.

    7. “We want to reclaim that word,” Suh said.

      Compton employs the spatial mode here by having this quotation stand alone. This was likely done in an effort to emphasize Suh's argument.

    8. The Los Angeles screenwriter said the concept was inspired by outrage over President Trump’s “grab 'em by the pussy” comment captured in a 2005 Access Hollywood recording.

      By using the word "captured", Compton implies that the president was caught doing something wrong by his comment being made public. One who believes the president was not in the wrong would find this to be problematic. This would be an example of linguistic mode through the means of word choice.

    9. I think ‘pussy’ refers to the female anatomical part, but it’s also a word that’s used to shame people who are feminine … whether they are men, women [or] genderqueer.

      This quotation from the co-founder of the Pussyhat Project highlights the influence of the gestural mode on rhetoric. By pausing after the word 'feminine', the speaker is trying to build anticipation towards the next point she's about to make with the purpose of emphasizing it.

  2. Mar 2018
    1. the most intimate part of their bodies is often used as a catchword for weakness.

      Could the use of modalities erase this stigma? The women's march and the pussyhat have tried and failed, but are there some other combinations of modalities that could make a larger impact?

    2. Access Hollywood recording

      Why was only one modality needed to convey trumps message? Yet the message of the pussy hat included visual,aural, gestural, and spatial modality and was still misunderstood?

    3. Access Hollywood recording

      This recording is considered aural modality. Normally when a modality is used you must weigh the affordances, to decide which type best gets your point across, or if a combination is needed. In this case only one type of modality was needed to convey his message.

    4. But the color has nothing to do with race, according to Suh, who is Asian American. She said the group chose pink because it is associated with femininity.

      This is an example of an affordance of using visual modality. Because only one form of modality was used the interpretation went astray. If for example linguistic modality of what the author actually meant was incorporated into the discussion of the hat, people wouldn't misinterpret its meaning.

    5. The cat-eared “pussyhat”

      The use of cat ears is a form of visual modality, and labeling the hat a "pussyhat" is considered linguistic modality. The use of both these modes is considered multi modality. This multi modality is used to represent a specific idea. Since this idea is misinterpreted, it begs the question of what type of modality could have been added to convey a clearer message. Perhaps aural modality from the creator explaining her vision.

  3. Feb 2018
    1. marginalized

      A term used to describe a person, group, or concept as insignificant or peripheral. This term is important because it explains why the "pussyhat" was created in the first place. And also explains why there were so many marginalized people that had an issue with the hat. If this linguistic modality was used in conjunction with the visual modality of the hat, it's meaning wouldn't have seemed so myopic to those complaining in this article.

    2. cisgender (a person who identifies with their birth sex)

      This is an example of Linguistic modality in the form of spatial modality. This word is used to help the readers get through the text without difficulty by organizing people into categories.

    3.  People gather for the Women's March in Washington U.S., January 21, 2017. Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

      This photo is very multimodal. The signs are a form of linguistic modality used to portray the ideas of the people in the march. The visual aspect of a sea of pink hats and women shows us who the march is about. The gestural aspect of body language depicts a multitude of emotions. Emotions that are later expressed in this article.

    4. Pink 'Pussyhat' Creator Addresses Criticism Over Name

      My chosen supplemental reading is "Pink"pussyhat" creator addresses criticism over name." This reading mainly focuses on the how the visual modality of the hat evoked many different responses, and emotions based off the person viewing it. This article also mentions what the author really wanted the hat to symbolize.

    5. “The hat won’t prove anything. The actions of the people will."

      This is an example of what Ball means by affordances. The hat is an example of the visual and the interactions between people is considered spatial. The affordances of the visual modality i.e the hat limit the understanding of the message. The author is saying, the use of spatial modality is enough to convey the true message.

    6. She believes that in order for movements to be truly intersectional they must center around the most marginalized.

      She only believes this movement isn't inter-sectional because that was her interpretation of the visual modality of the color pink and the linguistic modality of the name "pussy hat." The use of different modalities would probably change her entire interpretation.

    7. the hat’s symbolism is disrespectful of grassroots movements that have tried to create a progressive conversation around the “anatomy of all people.”

      I believe she is stating that to her the hat is used as a form of spatial modality, representing the separation of all genders.

    8. “The fact that this hat is on the cover of [Time Magazine and The New Yorker] at a time where immigrants and refugees are being held captive essentially and being forced to reconcile that they may never be able to return to the place they call home, just shows how out of alignment America is with the things that really matter,”

      Don't both issues matter? The visual representation of the hat represents the slow moving struggle for women's equality. It's not just about the hat it's how the different modalities used represent various issues.

    9. “My belief is that pink is considered a little bit frivolous, girly, weak, soft, effeminate, and honestly, I don’t think it’s the color, I think it’s a code for women,” Suh said.

      Here the author explains how the visual modality of the color pink evokes a linguistic and in a way spatial modality, in that this language shows a separation between the genders.