ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explore pedagogical strategies for teaching editing through a rhetorical lens, focusing mainly on feminist theory as a specific example of a rhetorical framework. I will analyze the existing scholarship of editing as a rhetorical practice, the scholarship of feminist pedagogies, and the scholarship of editing pedagogies, seeking to synthesize from these analyses a thread of proven strategies for teaching editing as a feminist practice. I approach feminist theories in the editing classroom through two distinct, yet entwined feminist strands: teaching students as feminist enactment and editing texts as a feminist enactment. I argue that asking editing students to engage directly and distinctly with feminist rhetorical approaches benefits students by helping them to intervene in gender imbalances in editing worksites, and helps the students learn to navigate the rhetorical nuances of language and meaning construction in the texts and authors they encounter. The chapter closes with several strategies for teaching editing as a feminist practice—equality and respect for students’ skills and experiences, equality and respect for texts, bringing theoretical values to light in textually-focused classrooms, working to understand and clarify theoretical lenses within edited texts—and questions for future research.
