ABSTRACT Western myth remains a descriptive mechanism in and for American society and a useful rhetorical approach in archetypal criticism. Popularized in communication study by Janice Hocker Rushing’s seminal criticism “The Rhetoric of the American Western Myth” (1983), the resilience of the myth’s tension between individuality and community continues to resonate in American society over 40 years later. Using Rushing’s original analysis of the Western genre and the historical antecedents she applies, we trace the evolution of the application of Western myth in American culture and politics to the present day. Rushing argued the ascendancy of Ronald Reagan represented a pseudo-synthesis of the myth’s opposites; we assert current application of the myth also results in a new form of pseudo-synthesis – this time with the confounding appearance of the rhetorical trickster in the role of “town marshal”. As in Reagan’s time, we must strive to restore the individual/community tension inherent in Western myth for it to remain a guiding influence.

ABSTRACT In this article, I examine All the Young Men: A Memoir of Love, AIDS, and Chosen Family in the American South by Ruth Coker Burks. The memoir contains Burks’ recollections of caring for people living with HIV/AIDS in Arkansas from the last half of the 1980s until the mid-1990s. I argue that the book fits within a category of texts known as caregiver’s memoirs, which hold transformative potential as public memorials if interpreted using analytic strategies based in a theory and praxis of care. Accordingly, I conduct a productive reading of All the Young Men that identifies the varied ways Burks uses personal narrative to perform her individualized memories of caregiving. I find that, by inviting readers to publicly memorialize the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. South, Burks establishes a relationship between storyteller and audience rooted in a mutual ethics of care and conducive to a more caring future.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the influence of copresent smartphone use and presence on conflict interactions. Sixty-four dating couples (N = 128) completed one 10-minute in-person serial argument conversation. Dyads were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) smartphones absent, (b) smartphone used by one participant, or (c) smartphone present but not used. Results indicate that copresent smartphone use – but not the presence of an unused smartphone – during conflict is more dissatisfying than conflict conversations absent of smartphones overall and at one-minute measurements. Also, perceived technological interference – but not the amount of phone use – was associated with lower ratings of conversation satisfaction. These findings suggest that copresent smartphone use is more problematic than smartphone presence, and perceptions of smartphone use may explain how and why copresent smartphone use may erode conversation quality.

ABSTRACT Sickle cell disease (SCD), the most common inherited blood disorder in the US, is an illness community with egregious inequities. In this single case study, we interviewed four healthcare providers in the SCD center of a children’s research hospital. Our objective was to understand the communication strategies they use to cope with limited resources and opportunities inherent in an area stymied by systemic racism and stigma. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), we identified six themes: mental models, mistrust, balancing priorities, disparities, stigma, and advocacy. We then contextualized those themes using the social ecological model. We argue that health communication scholars have a rich field of inquiry in SCD that we need to develop in our quest to address health inequities.

ABSTRACT Weibo is an event-focused microblogging platform open to the public, easily triggering users’ social media fatigue. Based on the Stressor – Strain – Outcome (S-S-O) model, this research proposes a path model to explore the antecedents and consequences of social media fatigue among Chinese Weibo users. Findings from an online survey of 414 Weibo users reveal that caused of fear of missing out (FoMO), they might experience social media fatigue through information overload, further causing them to develop discontinuous usage intentions. This study contributes to the literature on Chinese social media platforms and their cultural-specific nuances. Theoretical insights for future research are provided, and practical suggestions are recommended for Weibo users.

ABSTRACT This study explored sexual self-disclosure styles. Using an online self-report survey, participants (n = 428) reported levels of conversational goals, disclosure-related variables, and likelihood to disclose a sexual topic to their romantic partner. Cluster analysis resulted in three distinct styles of sexual self-disclosure. A seasoned self-discloser is experienced and efficacious in their sexual self-disclosures. Relationally constrained disclosers report concern for secondary goals paired with avoidance-related contextual variables. Functional self-disclosers seem to use verbal disclosure as a preferred tool for managing sexual issues in relationships, with less regard for the secondary influences of impression management, identity, and relational goals.

ABSTRACT We apply Burke’s “flowerish” and the feminist construct of “pariah femininity” to the symbolically rich and frequently bawdy realm of women’s roller derby names (RDNs). The “flowerish,” Burke’s geometric arrangement of epigrams, is a heuristic tool for exploring the ways in which RDNs enact “perspective by incongruity” as part of their performative challenges to the norms of hegemonic femininity. Our “flowerishes” are thematically curated collections of names that trade heavily on taboos surrounding the female body – particularly sex and death. Here, sex and death evoke Burke’s “combat myth” where eros and thanatos operate as opposing alternatives. In the puns that dominate RDNs, sex and death provide the dialectal impulses by which “pariah femininity” transcends the limitations of traditional femininity.

ABSTRACT In 1991, Anita Hill shifted societal understandings of sexual violence when she accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Twenty-seven years later, Hill reemerged in public discourse when Christine Blasey Ford also testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about how Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. This essay analyzes widely circulated editorial and non-editorial news coverage of the Ford/Kavanaugh hearings to assess public memories of Anita Hill during the 2018 confirmation hearings. I argue that despite the news outlets’ support for Ford, the 2018 coverage conveniently constructs memories of Anita Hill to prop up white supremacy. Specifically, through rhetorics of similarity, women-centric discourse, and progress narratives, news outlets render Hill’s Blackness absent, engaging in a rhetoric that promotes hierarchical understanding of sexual victimization by missing opportunities to challenge archetypal notions of white “worthy victimhood.” 1 This analysis offers insight about the promise of using public memory scholarship to study survivors’ experiences and the necessity of centering race in our discourses about sexual violence.

ABSTRACT Bandung as an urban area has a substantial population of social media users. However, civic engagement through the official social media platforms of the city government remains remarkably limited. The objective of this study was to scrutinize the core determinants influencing civic engagement on the social media platforms operated by the Bandung City Government. The research methodology employed a case study approach, complemented by a quantitative analysis of content sourced from their Instagram and Twitter (X) accounts. The findings elucidate three pivotal factors significantly shaping civic engagement on the Bandung City Government’s social media platforms that is particularly the presence of public service information; consistency of administrator responses to public interactions; and comprehension levels concerning the subject matter presented.