'We Can't Stop': The Verbal and Visual Rhetoric of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's 2013 Music Video Awards Performance

Item

Title

'We Can't Stop': The Verbal and Visual Rhetoric of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's 2013 Music Video Awards Performance

Description

This research examines the verbal and visual rhetoric of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's 2013 Music Video Award performance of 'We Can't Stop.' By using the method of an ideological visual rhetorical criticism, I argue that the rhetoric of this performance is hegemonic. Hegemony is a form of social control that maintains the present power structure through a consensual form of oppression. In this case, the rhetoric reveals the two contrasting ideologies of feminism and patriarchy. The verbal rhetorical strategies employed include naming and personification, whereas the visual rhetorical strategies include figure and ground, shapes and space, and lighting and color. This analysis demonstrates how the status quo of male dominance is upheld today in popular culture, even as women try to assert their empowerment.

Creator

Randlett, Kalie

Landau, Jamie

Date

2015-04-11

Identifier

https://commons.keene.edu/s/KSCArchive/item/19524

Language

eng

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Subject

Communication

Type

Presentation

Provenance

Keene State College

Item sets

AEC 2015 Humanities

Site pages

Humanities