Abstract
This chapter explores the highly complex relationship between trauma and voice. It focuses on the mediated voices of two women in the context of #MeToo, both of whom are understood as now finally ‘speaking their truth’ and ‘taking back control’ of their traumatic narratives. The chapter’s analysis of media narratives around Lewinsky suggests that to have one’s traumatised voice heard seems to require a preceding period (or at least a claim) of ‘silence’. While Gadsby has often been hailed as emblematic of the newly unleashed ‘wave’ of rage and trauma, an analysis of her stand-up show Nanette points to a much more modulated and contained articulation of traumatised voice. The chapter argues that having ‘voice’ in contemporary culture is still profoundly shaped by the insidious communicative logics of patriarchy.
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Notes
- 1.
‘MeTooRising’ is Google Trend’s data visualisation website that tracks the #MeToo movement across the world). It is available at https://metoorising.withgoogle.com/
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Kay, J.B. (2020). Damaged Goods: The Gender Politics of the ‘Traumatised Voice’. In: Gender, Media and Voice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47287-0_3
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