How does Appearance Affect Protest?

This week we studied The Yes Men as well as the punk rock culture. Both groups, although very different in one sense, have similar means of rebellion. The Yes Men appear like real business men when in reality they are simply two men trying to rebel against the actions and words of the World Trade Organization. Because of the way they are dressed in business suits, people automatically treat them with more respect and authority. In this case, their appearance affects their ethos in a positive way. The punk rock culture appears as a group of adolescents who are always trying to go against authority and to rebel against any norms in society. They are usually seen wearing black clothes, jeans with holes in them, old looking t-shirts with inappropriate wording on them, dog tags, combat boots, khakis, and even camouflage gear. They also use their bodies as a means of rebellion by covering them in tattoos. This appearance was used as the main weapon to defy any authority in society. Their choice of appearance represents their values that people should all be independent and not afraid to do what is not considered normal. I feel that both of these groups represent accurate protests. The Yes Men protest against the WTO while the punk culture protests against authority.

Staging Protests in Different Mediums

PETA and the Guerilla Girls are both groups of individuals who fight strongly for what it is that they believe in. Just as much as PETA wants to protect the safety of animals, the Guerilla Girls wants to enforce feminism just as badly. Both groups use things such as billboards, stickers, and bumper stickers to enhance their protests. With these various ways of stating their claims, both PETA and the Guerilla Girls are able to reach a variety of people. They can influence people walking down the street as they look at billboards or influence people in cars at a traffic light if they use bumper stickers. I feel that for PETA both billboards and stickers are effective. However for the Guerilla Girls, I feel that they should try to influence more areas of society having to do with mostly women such as dance companies or flower shops. My opinions of PETA vary. I agree with not harming animals, but I do not agree with people needing to become vegetarians. Looking at PETA from a position opposite of mine, I would have to believe that animals are equal and just as smart as humans in order to become a vegetarian. For the Guerilla Girls, I find their bright, outgoing ads to be most successful because they immediately grab the audience's attention. Using their specific means to protest such as wearing masks and making humorous signs makes the issue not look as important as I feel that they wish it did.

Critical Mass

Critical mass involves people taking over the streets with bikes rather than cars, buses, or any other means of transportation. The turnout for the critical mass was so large that it upset many people who were trying to continue their normal day to day measures of transportation to and from work. I feel that in some ways this could be seen almost as a silent protest. The bike riders are trying to make a point to all other people that riding bikes as opposed to cars or buses not only eliminates traffic, but it also allows for a more peaceful, thrilling means of transportation. Because this group of people has no assigned leader, it is difficult to pinpoint this act as a true protest. It also makes it more difficult for any type of authority figure to control the group's actions. However, as seen in the video, this led to some harsh actions by the policeman as they pushed people off of bikes and arrested them. If I was a bystander to this act, I would probably think it was very creative. On the other hand I would be a little angry if I was the person in the car and was being blocked from the streets by people on bikes.

Ethos as a Means of Persuasion

Ethos is supposed to be used in order to support the author or speaker as being credible for what he or she is talking about. There are a variety of ways to create good ethos for yourself and we have recently seen many examples of these various means of improving your credibility. In Frannie Lou Hamer's speech she presents a good ethos by stating everything she says as very straightforward. This lets the audience know that the speaker has nothing to hide and is being truthful in what he or she says. Another example was found in Stokely Carmichael's speech. He presents himself as a funny, down to earth man. Because he sets up his ethos like this, he is more likely to appeal to the college age group of students which he is trying to persuade. A third example is that of the Freedom Riders as well as the march which we watched on the computer. Both groups of protestors presented themselves in a non-violent manner. This made them seem more credible to the public eye and therefore more successful in their protest. Although each of these means of providing a better ethos was successful, not all of them would have worked in any situation. For example, had Stokely Carmichael tried to persuade the same audience as Frannie Lou Hamer, he would not have chosen jokes to better his credibility because he knew that the more sophisticated group of listeners would possibly look down upon his silliness. For this reason, one must be very careful when choosing a way to present himself as trustworthy and worth listening to.