The Rhetoric of Dust: Toward a Rhetorical Theory of the Division of Domestic Labor

Abstract

Inspired by Alberts, Tracy, and Trethewey's (2011, this issue) construct of the threshold of intolerance and yet concerned that the conceptualization did not incorporate a rhetorical component in its explanation of the division of domestic labor and frustration of inequitable distribution of that labor, I propose a rhetorical theory. The rhetorical theory of the domestic division of labor is grounded in five dialectics: the dialectic of absence/\\presence, dialectic of ownership, dialectic of dependence/\\independence, dialectic of identity, and dialectic of narrative disintegration. This rhetorical dialectical theory is applied to three previously published narratives. An interpretive analysis, guided by the dialectics, follows. Finally, contemporary cultural/rhetorical constructions and personal stories of the domestic division of labor are provided.