Best‐selling feminisms: The rhetorical production of popular press feminists’ romantic quest

Abstract

In the past decade, an emerging group of “popular press feminists” have garnered considerable media attention for their critiques of academic feminism. Despite persistent challenges to their arguments, these authors have gained media legitimacy. Through a rhetorical analysis, we argue that the texts of Camille Paglia, Katie Roiplie, and Christina Hoff Sommers derive their powerful appeal from assuming the form of an archetypal romantic quest narrative —a compelling story that sets up rigid dichotomies and creates double binds that limit possibilities for critical assessments as well as honest debate and exchange.