Emma Watson: United Nation’s HeForShe Speech on Feminism



Emma Watson: United Nation’s HeForShe Speech on FeminismCommunication Analysis on Persuasion8001001210945Shannon Garner SCOM 341 T/Th 2:00-3:15James Madison UniversityOctober 21st 201410864846800Shannon Garner SCOM 341 T/Th 2:00-3:15James Madison UniversityOctober 21st 2014108648468On September 20th, 2014, the world was introduced to a brand new campaign surrounding feminist ideals and gender equality. This campaign was introduced by none other than the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Women, Emma Watson. Watson, spoke to the United Nations about the launch of this campaign and about the much needed support from men to achieve ultimate gender equality. Watson used her ethos, logos, and pathos, identification, and the theory of reasoned action and altogether delivery in order persuade the gentlemen at the United Nations to support and endorse the HeForShe campaign. The HeForShe campaign is a solidarity campaign for gender equality. It is designed to unify the efforts of both men and women globally to bring one half of humanity to support the other half of humanity ultimately benefitting all. The HeForShe campaign is sponsored both by the United Nations for Women and JP Morgan Chase and Co. who are both very dedicated to creating gender equality for all.So, why Emma Watson? As previously mentioned, Emma Watson has been appointed as the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Women, and has traveled to many different countries all over the world to help assess the gender inequality that exists in places other then first world countries. Her ethos is also established by her sincere knowledge for this campaign. Throughout the video she explains how she had been repressed in her life because she was a female. She explains how her friends make certain choices to look a certain way, and how her being a feminist, actually has a negative connotation. This is not stopped there. Watson, also showcases many issues that have come from past feminism movements and why the HeForShe campaign is different. Watson even references in the video that people look at her as “the Harry Potter girl” and she goes on to explain that gender equality is something she is extremely passionate about and has seen many horrible situations where women are treated poorly. Her passion for the subjects of feminism and gender equality are truly what establishes her ethos.In addition to ethos, Emma Watson uses logos to further her point. Watson uses examples and statistics to relay information concerning gender inequality. She explains her frustration at the fact that is most first world countries, or the countries she sees the least gender gap in, have women making about $0.77 to ever $1 made by a man, for the exact same job. She also uses the situations that she saw in some of the countries she visited as part of her role as UN Goodwill Ambassador for Women. Watson explained that women have made many strides to close the gap of gender equality, but explains that we cannot do it alone and uses real life examples to prove her point. In addition to this Watson uses the simple logic of how women are just as useful to this earth as men are. She says in all fields women can be just as effective workers, if not more effective in some fields. She bring sin information such as the general fact that without women, this world would be depopulated and how in the past people in general have had a very sexist mindset, but with the strides for human rights that the world is making, this is one stride that is incredibly important to focus on. She explains that the door is open for equality; all we have to do is walk through it.Now that I have explained how Emma Watson used ethos and logos, it is time to mention her incredible use of pathos to persuade. Watson’s main goal was to persuade and inform the gentlemen in the room a brief introduction of the HeForShe campaign, and gain the support for the cause. She used many personal stories about how, as a kid, she was called “bossy” and liked less because she wanted to be a leader. She explained how she was often thought of in a negative connotation because she considered herself to be a feminist. However, Watson did not leave out the clear fact that she was privileged. She said “I am very lucky because my parents did not love me any less because I was born a daughter.” However, she went into the fact that in many countries this would have been the case. Her apparent pathos came out while convincing the gentlemen in the room to take a stand with her and join the HeForShe campaign. Watson also uses a sense of identification to further her persuasion. It was apparent by watching the audience that they were inspired. She clearly reached the women in the world because she was talking about the idea of gender equality and women’s right’s however; she was trying to reach the men in the room. I believe she did just that. She self identified with the men by pointing out the fact that this was an issue of human rights not just women’s rights. She also self identified by bringing in personal stories and personal struggles she has gone through in order for the men to hear first hand accounts of gender inequality. She also talked about the importance of the involvement of the men. She simply stated that women could fight and fight until they were blue in the face, but what the movement needed was allies. Or people not directly affected by the social injustice but who want to help right the wrong. This speech was calling for allies, and Emma Watson did it gracefully and successfully. According to the HeForShe website, over 182,500 American men have already pledged to help make a difference. This happened within a week of the initial release of Emma Watson’s persuasive speech to the United Nations. One more persuasive tool that was used was the theory of reasoned action. The TRA is the idea that individuals have already existing attitudes about certain subjects. If an individual can pinpoint exactly what a person’s attitudes or beliefs are, then they will be able to be easily persuaded uses tactics that can align similarly with what they believe in. Watson realized that she was speaking to gentlemen from all different backgrounds, who were all very well educated. Therefore, she introduced a campaign that had a global and an educational mindset. She clearly evaluated her audience prior to deciding what to say and that is shown through the effective communication model. Her speech resonated with subjective norms of her audience making her words an effective persuasive tool. Watson also took into consideration that the men in the room might be, and most likely were family men, so she brought in the ideas of their wives, daughters and sisters as cathartic tools.Her last, but certainly not her least used persuasive tool was her overall delivery. Watson spoke at a very slow pace for the non-English speakers in the room to fully understand the power behind her words. She also spoke in a very polite and non-abrasive manner. She clearly pronounced all of her words and thought carefully about how she phrased everything that came out of her mouth. She seemed calm and collected as she was addressing the members in the audience, and strong and confident as she continued throughout the length of her speech. She made great eye contact, had appropriate nonverbal movements, and paused appropriately for the audience to connect and fully understand the meaning and advocacy behind her persuasive words. I believe her delivery was a major reason that so many were affected by her words and have signed the petition this quickly after the speech.Today we have talked about how Emma Watson’s UN speech was persuasive. We have established that her ethos, the fact that she has been appointed as the UN Goodwill Ambassador for women, and her expansive traveling had made her a credible source for this issue. Watson used an expansive amount of logic and statistics to further her point. She also tied in personal stories of her own, and some of the things she has seen in other countries to prove her pathos. She self identified with her target audience, as well as using the theory of reasoned action to explain who and why she was reaching the people she was reaching. Lastly, Watson used a very respectful delivery to reach her target audience. Altogether, Emma Watson made an incredibly persuasive speech on the HeForShe campaign and why we should ass support it, especially the men. If you asked me, this speech was very effective.ReferencesFull Transcript of Emma Watson's Speech on Gender Equality at the UN. (2014).?About. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from - HeForShe. (n.d.).?HeForShe. Retrieved October 17, 2014, from Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson. (2014). headQuarters. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from ................
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