New Leaf

It’s time to roll into a new phase with this blog...

I believe that colors were an important start to the study of visual rhetoric; colors have the power to persuade both subliminally and blatantly. But it’s time to start a new leaf. I have given you the tools- now you need to know how to use them. Like I’ve said before, every experience (and modern rhetoricians share this same view) is relative and each individual person sees the world through his or her own lens. There can be no finite map for the study of rhetoric because it relies on preconceived notions and individual perspective.

With that being said, I have decided to focus on the “Sex Sells” aspect of the media. We have all heard this term. We have all encountered it first hand. But why is sex so affective? It certainly hasn’t always been. The next posts are going to be dedicated to “speculating” the answers to these questions. How and why does sex sell? Why is it so persuasive? Are we even aware of how these sexual images shape and mold our standards of beauty, normality, and attraction?

When studying rhetoric, it is vital to understand that there is no right or wrong answer. Many of us have different views on sex in the media. We like having standards because if we somewhat resemble these iconic images, we are glorified. But if we differ from them, we are shunned. It’s a matter of opinion…

What’s yours?

Nobody likes a vague disclaimer...

Before I move on to the next few blogs that I have planned, I want to share some thoughts and theories with you. I know that visual rhetoric is a broad topic, and there are many facets to its study... I will try to be as brief and simple as possible because I don't want this blog to be blown over because of it's difficulty.

Therefore, I wanted to give a little more background to visual rhetoric. I think it's important to understand what philosophers and theorists have said about rhetoric- this may help us make our own conclusions and theories.

Images

Images are created to express an idea or an emotion- they are used to imagine alternatives or to create new ways of looking at something:

Visual Culture
This term is of recent origin. The three primary modes of communication in our culture is the written word, the spoken word, and the use of images. The term visual culture defines the study of how cultures use images to convey certain messages and meanings, perhaps even more so than the written word. That is a debate that is long-lasting, and one that i will not enter here...

We live in a very visual culture- the use of fashion, icons, signs, advertisements and images are part of this American visual culture. For better or worse, our society as we know it is dominated by visual images.

Awareness
We are bombarded by images of persuasion which are trying to motivate, change, or alter our perceptions of reality. The term perception could be a blog on its own- according to many philosophers, our perception is individualistic. We see the world through the scope of our own situations and circumstances, and thus we all have different realities. There are countless realities because there are countless existences.

That being said, this blog is not trying to blow that domination of images out of the water- on the contrary; I am trying to create a catalyst to the structure of our own individual realities. By this, I mean that I am an advocate for "visual literacy." I want my readers to understand how images work and how they persuade, and this will ultimately lead you on a path all by yourself- a path in which you must see the media through your own lens, not one crafted by naivety or "illiteracy." So from now on, understand that I am trying to help you achieve awareness... I want you to be visually awake, alert, and on guard. If you become so, the study of visual rhetoric will open so many doors for you.

What is visual rhetoric, you ask?

In its broadest sense, rhetoric concerns both the practice and the study of effective communication in art and literature as well as political and social discourse. As Aristotle defines it, rhetoric is understanding the available MEANS OF PERSUASION...

This blog will provide an in depth introduction to the study of visual rhetoric. From Aristotle to the present, I will be gathering, exploring, surveying and examining the rhetorical and stylistic analyses of billboards, commercials, campaigns ads, magazines ads and so on. I not only want to analyze how and why these advertisements persuade but how they have become such an available and provocative mean of persuasion.

So buckle up cuz' this blog is going to be an eye opener!