- Title
- The digital rhetoric of addressing rape culture: “official” and “unofficial” arguments at Rhodes University
- Creator
- Jones, Megaera
- Subject
- Rape in universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Subject
- Universities and colleges -- Administration -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Subject
- Communication in higher education - South Africa -- Makhanda
- Date Issued
- 2020
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- text
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142621
- Identifier
- vital:38096
- Description
- South Africa is overwhelmed with high levels of sexual violence and institutions of higher education in South Africa are not exempt from this. How higher education stakeholders have responded to the call to address rape culture on campuses has been at the centre of much attention, especially publicly on online communicative spaces. Drawing on contemporary rhetorical theories, informed by a feminist poststructuralist perspective, this study sought to explore how constituents at Rhodes University were discussing how rape culture should (and should not be) addressed on campus. Using a rhetorical analysis, this study collected and analysed online public data from ‘official’ (institutionally sanctioned) and ‘unofficial’ (institutionally independent) communication platforms, following the 2016 rape culture student-led protest at Rhodes University. In analysing and interpreting the data from the ‘official’ sites, four major themes of discussion were evident. These rhetors argued that rape culture is a societal issue, requiring collective responsibility and effort in countering it, and that any approach to do so must abide by the bounds of the law. The University’s commitment, and continued investment to address rape culture on campus were repeatedly stated; as well as, the use of external ‘supportive’ messages that bolstered the reputation, efforts, and actions of the institution. On the ‘unofficial’ sites six broad patterns of discussion were evident. These ‘unofficial’ rhetors embodied the rape culture on campus, perceiving its effects as threatening to the physical body, which led to the adoption of the argument that rape culture needs to be ‘fought’ through physical action and support. Narrow law and order approaches were contested, and the need for a victim-centred approaches were prioritised. Additionally, doubt and suspicion were cast onto the institutional management/leadership, and the University (management/leadership body) were perceived as having ‘failed’ to address rape culture adequality. Considering this ‘failure’, a divisive rhetoric argued that the ‘fight’ against rape culture should continue, despite, and separate from, the institutional body. These findings revealed how the divisive positions these various stakeholders took created a volatile climate between University management/leadership, staff, and student. I argue that such division will continue to undermine any meaningful efforts to counter rape culture on the University campus; underscoring the difficulty, and ambiguity, that comes with attempting to address rape culture on higher education campuses. This necessitates how important it will be for scholars to research, and continue researching, the ways in which a rape culture, and the various approaches which attempt to counter it, are understood.
- Format
- 217 pages
- Format
- Publisher
- Rhodes University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Jones, Megaera
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Collections
RU Department of Psychology
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | JONES-MA-TR20-174.pdf | 10 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |