Is That a Rhetorical Question? Ambiguity and Power in Medical Discourse

Abstract

Rhetorical questions in medical encounters functioned to mitigate doctors' use of structural power, such as their necessary abrogation of patients' right to control over the viewing and touching of their bodies. Patients, lacking structural power, used functionally ambiguous rhetorical questions to mitigate their true questions and other face‐threatening acts, such as sexual overtures or challenging the physician's competence.