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Rhetorical Homology and the Caveman Mythos: An(Other) Way to Ridicule the Aggrieved

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 61; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10510971003797036

1745-1035

Luke Winslow,

Media, Gender, and Advertising

This essay uses the emergence of the caveman mythos, both in a Geico advertising campaign and an ABC television series, to show how a seemingly fanciful text can offer an explicit set of instructions to an audience beyond their critical awareness. Drawing on the work of Kenneth Burke and Barry Brummett, I use the homological connection between black stereotypes in the television series and gay stereotypes in the Geico ads to uncover a new process of hegemonic Othering based on trivializing the feelings of the Other by making their grievances appear ridiculous. I close by discussing the implications of this process when it is put to use on the actual Others that invariably fill our social worlds.