PamelaSantos

DePiero
Writing2
7December2015
BeneaththeSurface
OnJune26th,2015,theSupremeCourtmadeadecisionthatreleasedavastseaof
rainbowsalloverthe50states.Gaymarriagewasfinallylegal.Whileitisobviousthatmembers
oftheLGBTcommunitycelebratedwithparadesandlong,overdueweddings,thereisaquestion
ofwhereothers(whoarenotactivemembersoralliesinthecommunity)stand.Sincethereare
multipleperspectivesonhomosexuality,multiplearticlesarewrittenaboutit.Whetheritbe
scholarlyarticlesunderdifferentdisciplinesorevenmagazinearticlesandblogposts,thesuccess
ofawritersresponsedependsonthemovessignificantactionstheytaketobuildtheir
stylethattheyinsertintheirwork.Awritersfinalapproachtoatopicdependsontheir

rhetoricalsituation
,inotherwords,withina
context
or
genre
,thatnudges[them]tochoosethe
right
diction
oreven
jargon
andtostriketherighttone(Boyd).Whenlookingatdifferent
articles,sociologistsMaiaSheppardandJ.B.MayoJr.,theologistsMatthewJ.L.Pageand
KristinaM.LindahandreporterAnnamaryaScacciasharesimilarconventionsoftoneand
structure,yethavedifferentapproachestohomosexualityduetothemovestheytailortotheir
respectiveaudiences.
Whileitisunderstoodthatbothdisciplinesaddressthesametopicdifferently,itis
importanttoacknowledgetheconventionsofstructureandtonetheyshare,allowingthemtofall
underthegenreofascholarlyarticle.Inbothdisciplinaryarticlesfromthesociologistsstanding

uptoextendeducationontheLGBTcommunityinschooltothetheologistsjustifyingthestress
thatqueerpeopleundergowithhardevidencethereappearstobeaformaltone.Thistone
exemplifiestheimportanceofeachmessagetheyaretryingtoconveyandjustifiesthegeneral
genrethattheyfallunder.Aswellasthat,bothpaperscontainthesamestructure:title,author,
andparagraphs.Eachparagraphsaresectionedoffwithtitlesaswell.Thisspecificspacinghelps
alleviatetheoverflowofwordsandinformationfromtheaudiencetherefore,ithelpstheir
targetedaudiencesfeellighterwhenreadingthearticles.Byexaminingthesetwospecific
conventions,eachofthepapersarejustifiedasascholarlyarticlehowever,theirdifferencescan
beseenwhenlookingatmovesofeachwriterindividually.
ThemoveswrittenbythesociologistsinthescholarlyarticleTheSocialConstructionof
GenderandSexuality:LearningfromTwoSpiritTraditionsrangefromiconictobasicbut
overallareallessentialtotheirarticle.Onebigmovethatsupportedthepurposeoftheirarticle
wastheuseofinterviews,whichiswhatmakesthisscholarlyarticlestandoutagainstthetwo
articlesthatwilllaterbeanalyzed.Withtheutilizationofinterviews,thewritersclaimthatas
theseteacherscanattest,teachingsocialissues,addressingdifficult,emotionaltopicswithhigh
schoolstudentsisnoteasywork.Yet,webelievethatsuchchallengesshouldnotstopus
(Sheppard).Byusingamorepersonaloutlet,thesewritersappealtopathoswhichhelpsconvince
theiraudiencestosupporttheideaofeducatingstudentsofthesesocialissuesbecausesome
evidenceisbestobtainedthroughdirectinterviews(Lunsford).Additionally,somesmaller
movesincludetheitalicizationofsociologicaljargon,like
heteronormativity
and
heterosexism
to
highlighttheimportanceofthekeytermsnecessarytounderstandinordertofullycomprehend
thepurposeofthisspecificarticleandthesociologydisciplineingeneral.Thesociologists

implantedthesemovesintotheirscholarlyarticletostandoutfromotherarticlesandtopersuade
theirspecificaudience.
Whilethesociologistsarepersuadingtheiraudience,thetheologistsarticleTheRoleof
ReligionandStressinSexualIdentityandMentalHealthAmongLesbian,Gay,andBisexual
Youthmainlyhandstheiraudienceexperiments,facts,andtheresultsthatcomewithit.By
understandingthemainpurpose,itissimplertopulloutthemovesthatdifferentiatethis
scholarlyarticlefromtheother.Forexample,asopposedtoanecdotesfromteachers,these
researchersgatheredyouth[thatidentified]themselvesaslesbian,gay,orbisexual(Page).
Theyconductedalongitudinalstudywith170adolescentsandadultsaged1424yearswitha
standarddeviationof2.60,andamedianof19.5theymeasuredtheirstresslevelsthroughouta
periodoftimeandalsokeptarecordoftheirreligiousviews.Justbyobservingthepeoplethe
twoseparatedisciplinesuseandthewaytheyusethem,itisagreeablethattheyarespeaking
abouttheLGBTcommunityindifferentlights.Whilethesociologistswanttopushtheeducation
systemtowardsteachingaboutgenderandsexuality,thetheologistswanttobringawarenessof
theextrastressthatLGBstudentsundergobecauseoftheiridentities.
Asidefromthescholarlyarticles,the
RollingStone
sarticle,4LGBTIssuestoFocuson
NowthatWeHaveMarriageEquality

canbeclassifiedasanonlinepoliticalopinionarticle.
Overall,onthewebsite,theheaderonthetopleftfollowedbylinksofdifferenttopicsincluding
music,television,movies,culture,andsports.Additionally,thisarticleincludesphotographsand
sidebarlinksleadingtodifferentarticles,whichisnotavailableforthescholarlyarticles.
Automatically,thisphotojournalisticeffectisanaffordancethatstrengthensthisplatform.These
conventionssurroundingtheactualarticlearewhatallows
RollingStone
tostrayawayfromthe

scholarlyarticlegenre.Theseaffordancesthat
RollingStone
hasintheirstructurewasnot
offeredtothefirsttwoscholarlyarticlesbecausetheyarelimitedtowordsandresearchinorder
tostrengthentheirarguments.
Afterviewingthe
RollingStone
conventionsandidentifyingitsonlinepoliticalopinion
genre,itisimportanttoexaminethespecificmovesthatthereporter,Scaccia,hasusedwithin
theactualarticle.Thestructureofhercontentisalreadyaneffectivemovetheotherarticles,she
hooksheraudienceanddeclaresthatsamesexmarriageisahugevictory...LGBTAmericans
stillfacehighratesofviolence,discrimination,andpoverty(Scaccia)however,sheaddresses
hermainpointsbyseparatingtheminnumberedsections.Thewaysheliststhingsissimilarto
thepopularstructureofbloglistswhichisanotheronlineplatformthathasawideaudience.Ina
way,shechannelsthisstructureinorderfor
herown
audiencetobecaptivatedinwhatshehasto
offer.
YetanothermoveisthedictionthatScacciausesinherarticles.Forexample,sheuses
modernlanguagebyusingthehashtagwith#LoveWinscapturingtheattitudeoftodaysmedia
withhercasualtone.Finally,themovesheusestosupportherargumentisthetypeofevidence
sheuse.UnlikethesociologistsinterviewsorthedatafromthetheologistsLGBparticipants,
Scacciapullsalreadyexistingstatisticsanddatafromsourcesthatsheincludedvialinks.When
speakingofthepovertythatLGBTmembers,ScacciaclaimsthatLGBTworkersaremore
likelytoearnlessannuallycomparedtothegeneralU.S.populationwhilealsolinkingthatfact
toareliablesource.Scacciarepeatsthisforallfoursituations,stressingtherealityofthe
strugglesamongtheLGBTcommunity,despitethelegalizationofsamesexmarriage.After

lookingathermoves,thewaysheaddressesthetopiciscompletelydifferentfromboththe
sociologydisciplineandthereligiousstudiesdiscipline.
Bycomparingandcontrastingthemovesamongthesethreearticles,itisunderstoodhow
differentdisciplinesandplatformsareallowedtospeakoftheLGBTcommunityinvarious
ways.Theirshareddesiretohelpthiscommunityhastakenadifferentapproach,justifyingthat
therearedifferentpathsthatcanbetakentodoso.Itisimportantaspectofdelvingdeeperinto
thesearticlesistoremindeachreaderthatalthoughtheremaybeonetopic,therearevarying
perspectivesthatallneedtobenoticedwhichmakeswritingoneofthemostopenendedforms
ofexpression.Ultimately,comparingthesearticlesstressesthatsupportingandhelpingthe
LGBTcommunitycanbedoneinmorewaysthanone,andevenjustbyunderstandingtheir
strugglesweareonestepclosertomakingthisworldsaferforthem.

WorksCited
Boyd,Janet.Murder!(RhetoricallySpeaking).
WritingSpaces:ReadingsonWriting,
Vol.2.
Ed.CharlesLoweandPavelZemliansky.SouthCarolina:ParlorPress,2011.Print.
Lunsford,Andrea.StyleinArguments
EverythingsAnArgument.
Ed.AndreaA.Lunsford,
JohnJ.Ruszkiewicz,andKeithWalters.Boston:BedfordBooks,2010.Print.
Page,MatthewJ.L.,KristinM.Lindahl,andNeenaM.Malik.TheRoleofReligionandStress
inSexualIdentityandMentalHealthAmongLesbian,Gay,andBisexualYouth.
JournalofResearchOnAdolescence(WileyBlackwell)
23.4(2013):665677.
Academic
SearchComplete
.Web.29Oct.2015.
Scaccia,Annamarya.4LGBTIssuestoFocusonNowThatWeHaveMarriageEquality.
RollingStone
.RollingStone,29June2015.Web.29Oct.2015
Sheppard,Maia,andJ.B.Mayo.TheSocialConstructionofGenderandSexuality:Learning
FromTwoSpiritTraditions.
SocialStudies
104.6(2013):259270.
AcademicSearch
Complete.
Web.30Oct.2015