(2021-05-07) Nave, Nicole D., 1994-; Varda, Scott Joseph.
This thesis analyzes the discursive practices of US Vice President Kamala Harris, US Representative Maxine Waters, and US Representative Ilhan Omar. It posits Black femme style as a productive way to analyze the rhetorical performances of these political figures. Exploring a multiplicity of rhetorical performances, I identify rhetorical acts of racialized and sexualized violence directed toward these women by President Trump, while also outlining the “survival strategies” Black femme politicians have enunciated as a form of collective resistance. In so doing, I explain a Black femme style of political clapback as a rhetorical performance. The thesis examines tweets, memes and public debates. It also partially corrects the underrepresentation of Black women in the field of communication. Black femme politicians participate in a radical form of subject-making that counteracts narratives of Black political failure, spotlighting the resiliency of Black femme politicians in the era of MAGA politics.