Week five’s readings, “Rhetorical
Agency as Emergent and Enacted” and “Stuff and Fluff” both take on huge
questions of the responsibility and awareness of our own rhetorical actions. Lanham’s
article blew my mind through the evidence of a changing economy based on
advancing technology and consumer expectations. The examples that ranged from
the subsidized agricultural plan
to help preserve the French country all the way to auctioning off Westminster
Abbey chairs was fascinating. The idea of manipulating a space, like the French
countryside, in order to preserve tourist expectations is brilliant in my
mind—but I never would have acknowledged that that as a result the economics
happening change completely. I grew up in Miles City, which is located in the
southeast corner of the state. Here, agriculture is the language that dictates
everything. Local businesses circulate the agriculture industries of farmers
and ranchers. The town is situated along the banks of the Yellowstone River and
is an easy place to wave to as you pass by on the interstate. However, every
year on the third weekend in May the town hosts an annual Bucking Horse Sale.
It’s a four day rodeo and sale where people from around the world come to buy
bucking broncs. From the look of my blog you’ve probably made some assumptions
about me and my style, and you’re probably right. But, what you probably didn’t
know is that I was born on a farm and my family is in both the cattle and crop
industries—with this I am a life-time attendee of the Bucking Horse Sale.
It’s the one weekend a year where our town of about 9,000 people doubles, and
it provides essential money to the community that wouldn’t survive without it.
Now, I bring this up in association with our reading because people who attend
this event have serious expectations. The Bucking Horse Sale board of
directors, which many of my parents’ friends are on, get together year-round to
discuss the event—how to advertise and give people the “cowboy experience” that
they want.
Click on the link below to help give you an idea of what the Sale is
all about.
The Cowboy raw experience is what
people get—from the food, world renowned bronc riders, to the plethora of
alcohol consumed.
Lanham states, “It is by style that most of the expert
identifications are made anyway. The hunger for stuff is paralleled by a hunger
for style” (Lanham, 3). People come from all around the world to get this experience and the community sees the value in this. What do you think of when
you hear the word ‘cowboy?’ You probably have some old western photo in your
head of a white man riding a beautiful Paint horse with a cowboy hat and
boots—and you’re not far off. People coming from the East Coast, for example,
expect this too and that’s what the community give them. Venders full of clothes,
cowboy hats, boots, belt buckles, etc, are sold all around town for double the
price and people will buy them because they want to look the part while they’re
there. Style is vital, and the businesses that circulate the event understand this. In recent years outsider venders are able to come in and sell their products--however they have to be approved my the board of directors. From the artists that come in to sell their work, to the beauty products sold are all part of the essential style and design that Bucking Horse Sale promotes. Little do people know that most of the clothes sold are really nothing
like the clothes actual cowmen wear, as you can see below.
EXPECTATIONS
If the image to the left is your personal fantasy, then you should probably make a trip to Miles City in late May. This type of person who dresses the part, is usually sexualized in some way. Or the someone who spends thousands of dollars on fancy boots and a big flashy belt buckle are what the agricultural community likes to call "Buckle Bunnies."
REALITY
See the Difference?
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