Commonplaces

Commonplaces are very important to have in our modern culture. Such commonplaces are shared much more broadly than we ever have before. With social media systems such as Facebook, memes, and shared documents it is very easy for word to spread. One example would be the Baltimore situation, and how it is being covered on Facebook. This coverage on social media creates a commonplace. However, such media only shows coverage of the riots, and very little about the peaceful protests going on.

There are many contested commonplaces, and those are the ones that we can shake. There are some similar commonplaces, yet our society also has a lot of differing opinions.

Mean: What does the audience believe to be important?
-This is where finding common grounds, comes back to. Right now, ours is at a variance with the facts. For example, rapists often times will admit to behaviors of rape, but not the actual action of rape. Why are people in denial about sexual assault? Sex, is somewhat considered to be a taboo in our society. It is something that always happens behind closed doors. However, if sex is considered to be a taboo, than rape is about 1000 times worse. This goes to show that this topic is sensitive and even awkward. It is the same case with racism, and domestic violence. Some people have no interest in changing the system and commonplaces that surrounds rape. There is a commonplace that rape only occurs in dark alleyways in sketchy areas at late hours of the night. However, that is not the case.

So, how do we get people to change their attitudes? Changing people's perceptions of the world is very difficult to do. It is possible, however. For example, Earth Day started out as having no government affiliation, with many people denying the idea of climate change. Today it is now affiliated with the government, and is even internationally recognized. This happened due to Ethos. "An Inconvenient Truth", also came at a very opportune time. The public opinion at the time, was very scattered. However, the consensus of scientists now backs up the evidence of climate change on almost every account. This is possible to change the ways in which society views rape, and it starts with exposure.