Identity, Ethos, and Community: Rhetorical Dimensions of Secular Mommy Blogs

This study examines secular mommy bloggers, a group of women who blog about the difficulties of being a nonbeliever parent in a predominantly religious society. In this study, I explore the rhetorical dimensions of four separate blogs by investigating how each mother builds identity within her personal blog and how her sense of identity enables her to construct individual ethos. Furthermore, I illustrate how the individual ethos of each blogger contributes to a group ethos representing the entire secular parenting community. Ultimately, I show how these mothers rhetorically set themselves apart from other nonbeliever/secular groups.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Department dc:contributor.department

English

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Macdonald, Lindsey Marie

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Powell, Katrina M.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Warnick, Quinn
• George, Diana L.

• Atheism
• Secularism
• Motherhood
• Blogging
• Feminist Theory

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:5712

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/73601