{"id":845,"date":"2025-08-20T16:01:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/?p=845"},"modified":"2025-09-01T20:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:07:09","slug":"running-rhetorics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/running-rhetorics\/","title":{"rendered":"Running Rhetorics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I coined the term \u00a0<strong>\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/runningrhetorics.com\/\">running rhetorics<\/a>\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0and created the theoretical framework, that bears the same name, to explore the embodied, rhetorical, and phenomenological everyday lived experience of women runners. This isn&#8217;t just about running&#8211;it&#8217;s about what running means, communicates, and persuades.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Running rhetorics<\/strong>\u00a0is the study and practice of how meaning, identity, and agency are created through the embodied act of running. It names the\u00a0<em>two-way communication<\/em>\u00a0between mind and body that emerges in motion: the body \u201cspeaks\u201d through sensation, rhythm, and endurance, while the runner interprets, negotiates, and responds<\/p>\n<p>Through this lens, running becomes a rhetorical act-a site of meaning-making, identity formation, and emotional processing. It is a language. A form of resistance. A space where hegemonic cultural narratives about gender, discipline, health, trauma, and inclusion are both reinforced and resisted.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2822\" data-end=\"2997\"><strong>Core tenants of my philosophical approach are:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Running is a metaphor for life and can be studied as a microcosm for understanding broader concepts<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2822\" data-end=\"2997\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/OBLzkdMlluw\">Every &#8216;body&#8217; can run: There is no place for body-shaming or fatphobia in women&#8217;s running.<\/a><\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2822\" data-end=\"2997\">I support ALL women runners and I&#8217;m an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.athleteally.org\">Athlete Ally; I encourage you to sign the Athlete Ally Pledge, which supports equal access, opportunity, and experience in sports \u2014 regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.<\/a><\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2822\" data-end=\"2997\">Running can serve as a place of <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/m5NjL1KNPIA\">Quiet Activism<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What makes Running Rhetorics different? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unlike traditional sport studies or physiological models that focus on performance metrics, Running Rhetorics centers:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>phenomenology of lived experience<\/strong>\u00a0in running &#8211; how running feels and what it means beyond traditional performance metrics<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>rhetorical power of embodiment<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 how the moving body itself creates meaning<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>vernacular rhetorics<\/strong> of everyday runners, especially women whose identities have been historically marginalized in sport<\/li>\n<li>The way running provides women tools for\u00a0<strong>healing, agency, and identity formation<\/strong>\u00a0beyond traditional cultural constraints.<\/li>\n<li>Running as a means to process trauma stored in the body<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Why it matters-Especially for Women<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Running rhetorics centers the experience of women &#8211; trans and cis &#8211; who have been sidelined, silenced, or scrutinized in athletic spaces. For us, running isn&#8217;t a &#8216;recreational activity&#8217;&#8211;it&#8217;s a reclamation<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s where trauma is metabolized<\/p>\n<p>Where rage becomes our rhythm<\/p>\n<p>Where we remember our power<\/p>\n<p>In a culture that polices women&#8217;s bodies, running offers an opportunity for autonomy-and Running Rhetorics gives us the language to understand it<\/p>\n<p><strong>A feminist, embodied, rhetorical framework <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The framework is still evolving-through research, storytelling, embodied inquiry, and the miles I log with women around the world. As the creator of Running Rhetorics, I continue to expand and refine the theory to reflect what running reveals about identity, communication, space, place, and power.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Running Rhetorics is more than a theory. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s movement<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s resistance<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s meaning-made mile by mile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I coined the term \u00a0\u201crunning rhetorics\u201d\u00a0and created the theoretical framework, that bears the same name, to explore the embodied, rhetorical, and phenomenological everyday lived experience of women runners. This isn&#8217;t just about running&#8211;it&#8217;s about what running means, communicates, and persuades. Running rhetorics\u00a0is the study and practice of how meaning, identity, and agency are created through&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[213],"tags":[214,215],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-running-rhetorics","tag-running-rhetorics","tag-stacy-cacciatore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861,"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stacycacciatore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}