Abstract
In 2016 Brianna Kirkham stepped onto the stage to give a performance titled, “if ‘This Is Not A Rape’ isn’t a rape, then what is it?” based on the performance art of Emma Sulkowicz’s “This Is Not A Rape” video. Of over 100 entrants, Brianna Kirkham was named national champion for her performance in the final round. Kirkham instructs the viewer to “watch kindly” when viewing Sulkowicz’s video. However, this phrase is never defined. Instead, Kirkham interrogates herself and the audience. Are we, as participants within a competitive activity, watching kindly? Did she? By utilizing a performance that clearly alludes to a very specific trauma experienced by a real, living person, does Kirkham exploit Sulkowicz herself? The speech itself never comes to a conclusion, and instead leaves the forensics community to ask such a question of ourselves. The space left undefined by the speech serves as a fascinating gap to be explored that can help to understand the ethics and function of performance, especially when that performance involves consuming the trauma of others. the same kind of question can be applied to the speech proper. In addition to asking if Kirkham watched kindly, we can also ask if Kirkham’s performance itself was kind. Traditionally there is limited room on forensics ballots to judge ethics, much less the ethics of kindness of a speech. Forensics is a competition, yet we argue there must be room to evaluate a performance beyond “is this a winning speech?” Instead, we must leave room to ask, “is the speech ethical? Is it kind?” In this paper we argue that kindness must be considered an essential function of participation as well as evaluation and provide criteria by which to judge the “kindness” of rhetorical criticism performances.
Recommended Citation
Adams, A., & Sauter, E. (2026). Kindness as a Critical Lens: Ethical Considerations in Rhetorical Critique. National Forensic Journal, 39(1). https://doi.org/10.56816/0749-1042.1073
