The rhetoric of women's liberation: An oxymoron

Abstract

The rhetoric of women's liberation merits separate critical treatment because it is a unique genre of rhetoric. Its distinctive substantive characteristics arise from the peculiarly intense moral conflict it generates so that moderate and reformist options are closed to feminist advocates. Its distinctive stylistic features include emphasis on affective proofs and personal testimony, participation and dialogue, self‐disclosure and self‐criticism, autonomous decision making, and “violations of the reality structure.”