Locating Gender and Resistance Through a Feminist Application of Gramsci's “Organic Intellectual”: An Analysis of Time Magazine's 2002 “Person(s) of the Year”

Abstract

In December of 2002, Time Magazine chose Sherron Watkins, Coleen Rowley, and Cynthia Cooper as the “Person(s) of the Year.” These women became famous for their roles as “whistle-blowers” in the country's highly publicized corporate scandals. Time's coverage of these women revealed the complex nature of corporate scandal and whistle-blowing. However, also apparent was the struggle each woman faced as a “gendered other” within the organizations they worked for. The role of the gendered other is examined using “feminist communicology” and Gramsci's theory of the “Organic Intellectual.” These women's experiences allow Time to portray them as individuals capable of navigating the hegemonic bloc's power structure while simultaneously undermining its power by using discourse and language as tools of resistance.

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Notes on contributors

Jenni Simon

Jenni Simon, Department of Communication Studies, University of North Carolina-Greensboro.