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Mark Kazour

English 137

Professor Miles

Artifact Essay

Feminism Emma Watson

As the presidential race comes to a close, the United States has the potential to make

history. Americans might have their first female president. Although this may be a tremendous

feat by the world power, female political leaders are still incredibly rare. Hillary Clinton and

Angela Merkel are two exceptions to the worlds political stage. Gender inequality holds them

back. Emma Watson attempted to change this. Emma Watson delivered a speech to the United

Nations on September 20th, 2014, persuading for civic engagement in order to start a movement.

Through the United Nations, Emma Watson sought to make major reform in womens rights

through the promotion of feminism, encouraging men to advocate for gender equality, and

calling for the end of the perception of man-hating. Emma Watsons speech capitalized on her

experience using ethos and the predispositions of her audience, while employing techniques of

pathos, logos, and Kairos in order to spark feminist reform.

As both a woman and ambassador for UN Women, Emma Watson utilizes her status to

build ethos and further motivate her audience. As Emma Watson noted in her speech, she was

appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. This gives her some credibility to back up

her argument. This appeals to the ethos of her audience. Being named the Goodwill Ambassador

for UN women tells the audience that she is a knowledgeable and credible source. This is known

as the Ad Veracundiam Fallacy because it is an appeal to authority. She displays her

qualifications in an attempt to win credibility. But, she also stressed her experience as a woman
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living in Great Britain. She explained her confusion when she was called bossy for wanting to

direct her schools plays, while the boys were not as bossy. At fourteen, she was sexualized by

the media. At fifteen, her girlfriends didnt want to play sports because they were afraid of

appearing muscle-y. At eighteen, her male friends were terrified to express their feelings.

Emma Watson displayed the issues gender inequality played in her life through an appeal to

ethos. Her experience as a child was Emma Watsons exigence. This is the reason she attempts to

eliminate gender inequality and speak at the UN. But, it also gave her credibility, building her

ethos, because she had experienced gender inequality in her everyday life. As a result of her

status and experiences, Watson developed a sense of ethos with her audience. But, in order to

effectively call them to action, Emma Watson connected her cause to her specific audience.

Emma Watsons understanding of her audience was key in order to effectively persuade

her audience to civically act. By acknowledging the influence her audience has on the

legislations and human rights of their prospective countries, she is able to use the rhetorical

situation to spark a desire to change. Understanding the influence these leaders had, Watson

stated, there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these

rights. No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality. She

criticized these world leaders for not doing enough to stop gender inequality. She challenged

them to do better in order to spark more legislation to protect the rights of women across the

globe. She also understood that her audience was both male and female. Watson had to target her

discussion to encourage male participation in gender equality. She does this by attempting to

eliminate man-hating from being associated with feminism. She explains that feminism is

more than women equality, but also is the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.

She also makes numerous remarks protecting the sensitivity of men. Ive seen young men
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suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a man.

She was attempting to portray feminism as a movement to change societys ridged gender roles

in hopes of attracting men to achieve gender equality. Emma Watsons utilization of her

audiences nature and predispositions allowed her audience to become more invested in the

feminist cause. In order to effectively capitalize on the audiences predispositions, Emma Watson

used the rhetorical devices logos and pathos.

Emma Watsons use of the rhetorical devices of logos and pathos motivated the world

leaders to fight gender inequality. As human beings, we employ reason and emotions in our

decision making. Emma Watson utilized this fact through the use of logos and pathos. To exploit

our logic, Emma Watson stated in the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to

49 eclipsing road accidents, cancer, and coronary heart disease. She also explained if we

do nothing it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred, before women can expect to be

paid the same as men, for the same work. These two examples exemplify the use of logos. They

employ the use of inductive reasoning, or drawing conclusions based on facts. This reasoning

tells the audience that man-hating is killing men in great number and that gender equality will

take decades to achieve, unless they act. This called the audience to civically act to overcome

these social issues. Otherwise, male suicide and gender inequality will still be prominent for

decades to come. To exploit our emotions, she stated, My life is a sheer privilege because my

parents didnt love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I

was a girl. Watson, later, continued describing the privileges she had as a child. She also stated

Ive seen my fathers role as a parent being valued less by society despite my needing his

presence as a child as much as my mothers. Emma Watson aroused feelings of pity among the

audience for those that do not have the same privileges she does and for husbands whose parental
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role is valued less by society. Since emotions are a part of life, Emma Watson is bringing the

issue of gender inequality to real life. The sympathy the audience felt causes the audience to be

convinced that gender inequality and the issue of man-hating required their action. She called

for civic engagement by quoting Statesman Edmund Burke, saying All that is needed for the

forces of evil to triumph is for good men [and women] to do nothing. As world leaders, they

take on the legislative responsibility to combat moral injustices like gender inequality. Through

her pathos and logos, Emma Watson strived for legislative action. Her goal was also promoted

due to the Kairotic context at which she spoke.

The Kairos of the UN agenda increased the chances that legislative action would take

place. The UN was in the process of creating their Human Rights Report for 2014 at the time of

Emma Watsons speech. This was perfect timing to create change. Her message could be spread

more easily through the upcoming UN Human Rights Report of 2014 and allow for more

legislative action to take place. The goals of Emma Watson were reflected in the Kairotic context

of her speech.

Emma Watsons speech on achieving gender equality combined the use of ethos, the

audiences predispositions, the techniques of pathos, logos, and the Kairotic context to motivate

her audience to end gender inequality. The UN leaders experienced an emotional tie and a logical

understanding to the issue of gender inequality. As a result of the rhetorical situation and use of

rhetorical devices, this incredibly powerful speech is still prominent after its delivery. Womens

rights leader Malala Yousafzai declared herself a feminist after listening to her speech in 2015.

She was placed in the Times 100 list of the worlds most influential people for her gutsy, smart

take on feminism. Emma Watsons speech on feminism certainly made an impact on the UNs

Human Rights Report for 2014 and allowed feminism to improve global legislation.
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Works Cited

Watson, Emma. "Emma Watson Gender Equality Is Your Issue Too." UN Women. N.p., n.d. Web.

04 Oct. 2016.

HeForShe. Emma Watson HeForShe Speech at the United Nations/UN Women 2014. Online

video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Sep. 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2016.

"Emma Watson." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2016.