精品SM在线影片

GOP candidate鈥檚 gestures, comedic approaches forestall criticism, researchers conclude

听

In 1960, Richard M. Nixon鈥檚 sweat and 5-o鈥檆lock shadow may have cost him the election. In 1976, cartoonists and pundits went nuts over candidate Jimmy Carter鈥檚 big, pearly whites. In 1980, Ronald Reagan鈥檚 pompadour signaled a return to 1950s values to many voters distressed by social changes in the 鈥�60s and 鈥�70s.

Now we can add to the list of influential body parts in American presidential politics the hands of Donald J. Trump, now the the president elect.

Rival Marco Rubio first put manos at center stage when he noted 鈥� with a figurative wink 鈥� how small they are for a man as large as Trump. More recently, a 2005 recording emerged in which Trump boasts of how he can 鈥済rab鈥� women with impunity because, 鈥渨hen you鈥檙e a star, they let you do it.鈥�

But according to two 精品SM在线影片 professors and a graduate student from the University of Texas at Austin, hands have played an even more influential, if never studied, role in the rise of the most controversial major-party candidate in American history.

In 鈥淭he Hands of Donald Trump: Entertainment, gesture, spectacle,鈥� published in the October issue of HAU Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 Donna M. Goldstein, professor of cultural anthropology, and Kira Hall, associate professor of linguistics and anthropology, and UT Austin PhD student Matthew Bruce Ingram write that Trump uses entertainer鈥檚 tricks to get away with more than what other less flamboyant candidates could possibly imagine.

Trump鈥檚 use of comedic entertainment, they argue, goes a long way toward explaining his success in winning the Republican nomination. 听

鈥淚n Trump we find a Rabelaisian character that deploys bawdy humor to entertain his audience. He provides carnivalesque moments as he pokes fun at other candidates, at their bodies, at their fluids, at their stiffness,鈥� they write. 鈥淟ike Rabelais, Trump understands that crude humor has the power to bring down the princely classes鈥攁ka, the political establishment鈥攁s well as anyone who opposes him.鈥�

And like any great stage performer, they note, Trump knows how to use his hands, 鈥渞educ(ing) others to laughable portrayals while elevating himself.鈥�

Consider just a few now-infamous Trump gestures: mockingly imitating a disabled reporter; raising and aiming faux rifles and pistols; tilting his head on folded hands, eyes closed, to suggest a rival is 鈥渓ow energy鈥�; impersonating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton swooning due to pneumonia. The authors zero in on such gestural displays to make their case, having deeply analyzed 27 hours of video footage from Trump's stump speeches.

Other 鈥渟howbiz鈥� candidates have used their skills to woo voters, from Ronald Reagan to Jessie Ventura and Al Franken. But, Hall, Goldstein and Ingram argue Trump is exceptional for his extravagant hand gestures and his immersive entertainer鈥檚 approach to campaigning.

鈥淭he density of his use of comedic entertainment is unprecedented in politics,鈥� Hall says.

鈥淣o one goes to see Trump to laugh,鈥� Goldstein says. 鈥淏ut his use of a kind of 鈥榮tandup鈥� comedy format suspends (his audiences) from the usual stiff, staid political oratory. When people are able to be entertained, he understands that he can get away with a lot more.鈥�

Goldstein and Hall note that Rubio鈥檚 campaign collapsed not long after it descended to Trump鈥檚 level with the unsubtle, gutter-level dig at his manhood. On the other side of the aisle, former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean鈥檚 candidacy evaporated after he was caught on camera triumphantly screaming after a primary victory.

Trump, meanwhile, has been given a pass by his supporters, and many pundits, despite a near-continuous string of pronouncements and actions that would have doomed any other candidacy. The article explores why Trump has succeeded while other candidates have failed in using such strategies.

Many in the candidate鈥檚 support base find his mocking gestures and name-calling especially hilarious. But even many who don鈥檛 like Trump find him amusing.

鈥淎ll I have to do is put up a slide about Donald Trump in class and the students laugh,鈥� Hall says of her course on language and gender. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know which side they are on, but he has carved out this space for himself as an entertainer, which then seems to excuse his behavior.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 handy delivery doesn鈥檛 just appeal to his main constituency. He鈥檚 been successful, the authors write, because he offers 鈥渃arnivalesque entertainment鈥� that is appealing, 鈥渘ot just for the white rural underclass, not just for conservatives, but also for the public at large, even those who strongly oppose his candidacy.鈥�

He is not unlike 鈥渇ools and clowns (that) subvert the social order through acts of parody, poking vulgar fun at the mystique of political rulers and stirring rebellion in their audiences,鈥� they write.

鈥淭he moment he ceases to entertain 鈥� to say crazy (stuff),鈥� Dave Eggers recently wrote in The Guardian, 鈥渉e will evaporate.鈥� Even as his handlers鈥� efforts to rein in his more outrageous instincts seem to have largely failed, Trump seems unsettled by the notion of toning down his patented style. He complained at one campaign rally that he would eventually 鈥渂ecome so presidential that you people will be so bored.鈥�

But Trump鈥檚 mesmerizing hands and spectacle-dependent campaign are no laughing matter, warn Hall, Goldstein and Ingram who disclose their biases in a paper that is otherwise based on traditional research techniques.

The candidate鈥檚 鈥渃omedic debauchery,鈥� they write, is 鈥渢he next logical chapter of a hypermediatized politics that lacks content, sells itself as entertainment, and incorporates comedic stylistics so as to immunize itself against critique.鈥�

The disclosure of the 2005 recording of Trump鈥檚 words describing his aggressions toward women has caused more damage to Trump than anything else since he announced his candidacy in 2015, perhaps because he wasn鈥檛 in front of an audience.

鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting because that cannot be so easily excused as entertainment, or a performance,鈥� Hall says. 鈥淚t was recorded backstage when he wasn鈥檛 performing. He can say, 鈥楾his is just locker-room talk,鈥� but this time it isn鈥檛 working.鈥�

To read the full journal article, click .听听