The Art of Parrhesia and Free Speech
You Don’t Have to Talk to Be Heard
An Introduction of Parrhesia and Free Speech
Parrhesia is translated as free speech, although not strictly free speech because of the necessary characteristics of parrhesia that must be present to in fact make it parrhesia. Free speech is the first Amendment of the Constitution, which illustrates its essential presence in our country, or any democracy for that matter. Necessary characteristics that make parrhesia parrhesia, instead of just free speech, is using direct and understandable language, having courage, delivering truth, having moral qualities, and being a form of criticism. There are many examples of someone who performs an act of parrhesia as Michel Foucault pointed out, which were between a student to a teacher, a philosopher to a tyrant, and a citizen to authority. An important thing to mention is that the act of parrhesia is not necessarily exclusive to speech. The act of parrhesia is just getting an opinion stated in any way possible to someone that has the power to punish or reprimand you if they do not agree with your opinion. In my opinion, art has always been a tool of free speech, which can be seen throughout history, and through recent examples today. The examples that will be presented are one’s of president Trump because he is a recent major catalyst of inspiration in free speech protests and art today.
Music as an Expression of Free Speech
One example of parrhesia today is the song and music video by Pussy Riot titled Make America Great Again. In this music video they protest at-the-time presidential candidate Donald Trump by using his words to show the people what Donald Trump’s America will look like if he is elected. Although, it is not what one might traditionally link to parrhesia because it is a delivery of an unorthodox speech, it is nonetheless parrhesia. The women of the protest group Pussy Riot are delivering their criticism to an audience that can reprimand them (President Trump), so it can be seen as an act of courage. They also deliver a widely accepted truth of a majority of American and other countries beliefs regarding Trump. Their language is very understandable, and people have made them a tool to perform free speech on their behalves, so it would logically follow that their morality is present and valid.
Paintings as an Expression of Free Speech
Another art form that can be an expression of free speech are paintings, and an example of this is the the painting done by Ashley Gore which was one of at-the-time presidential candidate Donald Trump, painted after he made some crude remarks about women. In her representation of Trump she did a portrait of him naked, and he was depicted with a small… member. This depiction of Trump has been done by many artists, however Gore was banned from Facebook and Ebay for her post. While this may not be classified as parrhesia, it is still a form of free speech, which was infringed upon when Gore was threatened with legal action for her work. In defense of her work, she stated that just because she painted him with a small penis does not mean that he will necessarily be a good or bad president. It is just an artistic expression yet Gore received so much backlash when she was merely sharing it in her friend sphere. Unfortunately, it has caused anxiety for Gore that should have been prevented by America’s defining constitutional right, the first right of free speech, but instead has been turned into a ridiculous predicament for the artist, particularly due to the lack of harm it had on others. The characteristics of parrhesia that this art demonstrates is courage to deliver their message even with the fear of punishment, which Gore was through being banned from certain social media. Also the message is easily comprehensible due to the objectification of Trump as he does to women, with the “ideals” that women held for men to be clearly lacking.
Mediums of Free Speech
Although not each example was directly parrhesia, they each had some of the characteristics of parrhesia. That is not to say that each medium of art is not applicable as being labeled parrhesia because as long as it touches on the characteristics of parrhesia it can be labeled as such. Artistic expression has always been a form of free speech, and I think it is very common for people to forget how powerful it can be. Art as parrhesia give more people a voice, and as previously stated you do not need to talk to be heard. This makes it particularly helpful for introverts who want to be heard because their message can be just as powerful as any speech given by another person who does not have the hindrances that an introvert might have.
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