Cultural Studies and Composition

I've been thinking about the issues surrounding composition and gender since the beginning of the semester when we had to read the Bedford Bibliography piece. I've pondered over a few of the very same issues Nedra Reynolds addresses in the George and Trimbur reading. For the most part, her view of the "all male narrative of cultural studies and composition" holds its own weight when we look at the mainstream discourse in cultural studies.
Historically speaking, the rhetorical accounts of cultures past and present assume, and often emphasize, the male experience. From elementary school to college, we're taught about famous writers, presidents, politicians, inventors, and painters - most of whom happen to be (white) men. Where is the woman's voice? Women of all social statuses deserve recognition and the right to be heard. What about the poor and other minorities? Thankfully, composition and rhetoric scholars seriously considered these questions in the 1980s. They stimulated and spawned various cultural studies including the experiences of many people who never had a chance to take part in the academic dialogue. College classrooms are only in the beginning stages of real cultural exchange, while elementary, middle, and high school students have a long way to go before they experience significant multicultural education.
The Bedford Bibliography supports Reynolds' argument. Noting that multicultural studies only started gaining significant ground in the 1980s when composition scholars studied the cognitive processes of writers, and sought to discover how the writer's social circumstances affected their writing ability. In the long run, researchers opened the door for marginalized groups to raise their voice and be heard through the power of rhetoric.