Week 6: Project Proposal

Week 6: Project Proposal

Figure 1 

Figure 2

For my research study, I am proposing an examination of memes surrounding the media events concerning Stormy Daniels, including the televised interviews and other public appearances she has made during her legal battles with President Trump. Her appearances are a result of the sexual encounter between the two on Trump's golf course in 2006. In January of 2018, Stephanie Clifford made the details regarding the pair's encounter public, while arguing the illegitimacy of a non-disclosure agreement she was forced to sign soon after; she had posited that the agreement was null and void, as Trump had not signed it (Parks, 2018).

The study's theme will examine the cultural implications of both Clifford and Trump's portrayal as they potentially reinforce cultural stereotypes and ideologies on the male and female gender. As I examined in previous weeks, the pairing of linguistic cues and visual elements tend to reflect cultural ideologies, either amplifying or negating certain attitudes on gender relations.

The two memes, shown in Figures 1 and 2, are highlighted as they reflect the multitude of ways American gender ideals are inserted into mass-circulated and consumed memes. Figures 1 and 2 utilize both real and incorrect photos of Clifford in an attempt to continue the coupling of her personal life and career as a sex worker, along with expanding the images to a cultural denigration of women as a whole, either through visual, text, or a combination of the two. Figure 1, using a screen capture of Clifford's CNN interview, is chosen as it avoids visually portraying Clifford in a sexual nature, but still does so through the conscious choice of language in the image, equating a normal legal term with sexual undertones and reducing the severity of her allegations and recollections. Figure 2, on the other hand, resorts to using a sexually-suggestive photo, using an incorrect image of a Saturday Night Live skit aired before her allegations were made public. Figure 2 highlights the at-times drastic steps meme content creators can take to argue a culturally-dominant ideology, elevating the status of one gender while lowering another.

Parks, M. (2018). Stormy Daniels shares graphic details about alleged affair with Trump. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/03/25/596868354/stormy-daniels-shares-graphic-details-about-alleged-affair-with-trump