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Becca Hamilton

Dr. Kornfield
Communication Criticism
28 April 2015

The Art of Ethos: Emma Watsons HeForShe Launch Speech

Abstract
On September 20, 2014 Emma Watson delivered a speech to the United Nations that became a
viral sensation. As the launching of the UNs HeForShe campaign and a call for gender equality,
Watsons speech morphed her public image from a beautiful and well-respected actress to also
being a global political leader. Expanding on the existing scholarship of ethos used in speeches
by female political leaders, I reveal the importance of studying how female celebrities develop
their ethos to become political ambassadors for their chosen cause. For this discussion, I argue
that Watsons HeForShe launch speech exposes how she developed her ethos through disclosing
personal stories and speaking in a direct wording style to successfully engage with her audience.
Keywords: Emma Watson, ethos, feminism, HeForShe, United Nations, audience

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The Art of Ethos: Emma Watsons HeForShe Launch Speech


Everyone wants to be a celebrity at some point. The allure of fame and admiration can
draw any normal person into the spotlight. Yet, as Albert Einstein famously claimed, With
great power comes great responsibility. The celebrated Emma Watson finds her self in such a
position as this. Initially finding her fame by playing Hermione in the Harry Potter movie series,
Watson had the world thrust upon her as she grew up. In adulthood, she graduated from Brown
University and became a UN Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014. Understanding the power that
comes with fame, Watson today uses her position to advocate for womens rights in an impactful
way.
On September 20, 2014, Watson launched the UNs HeForShe campaign with a speech at
the UN Headquarters in New York City (Heller). Watson invited men to sign a petition in support
of the HeForShe campaign, which brings to light gender inequality and supports women fighting
these inequalities. This speech was unique because the UN chose an extremely well known
female popular culture celebrity for a political cause. Watson now blazes the trail for future
female celebrities to use their platforms for political influence. Watson used her speech to
capitalize on carefully crafted ethos by developing it through personal stories and direct wording
style, making for a well-received message by her wide audience.
In this article, I lay out how Watsons speech used crafted ethos to allow for success.
First, I will introduce the context of crafted ethos and why it is important for Watsons speech.
Next, I will demonstrate how Watson used personal stories and a direct wording style to carefully
develop her ethos, ultimately making her speech successful. Lastly, I will define who Watsons
wide audience was, and how their reactions encouraged positive responses towards her speech
while also stimulating further gender conversations.

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Discussion of Ethos and Emma Watson
Ethos as a concept originally stems from Neo-Aristotelian Criticism. Aristotle
emphasizes in this ancient style of criticism the importance of effectiveness. To be deemed
effective, a speech must hold up to the application of the canon: invention, arrangement, style,
memory, and delivery. Ethos is a subset of invention, and is critical for the effectiveness of a
speech through both the orator and the content. Ethos, specifically, is defined as the perception of
credibility and character in the world of thought (Stob). Studying ethos helps to expose how the
person delivering the speech sets up the audience to receive the content. In order for an audience
to receive a message favorably, the orator must fit that audiences expectations for the specific
rhetorical event.
Though men traditionally dominate the public sphere, womenby contrastoften
experience difficulties establishing their ethos as they move from the private to the public scene.
Society more often than not expects a man to speak in a leadership position, making it difficult
for women in the same position to hold the same level of credibility. In order to compensate,
women throughout history counteracted this societal flaw by getting strategic with their ethos.
Specifically, women of power during the Renaissance began to use ethos in calculated ways in
order to be taken seriously and to stir effective movements. Women have long been aware of the
tension between exercising authority and confirming to societal expectations, and have often
found strategic ways of managing those tensions rhetorically(Sheeler and Lucaites 124). A
specific example is that of the British Queen Elizabeth I. She chose to use courtship rhetoric to
entice men to listen while establishing herself as a strong leader (Sheeler and Lucaites). By
creating an ethos that conforms to the cultural normative, Queen Elizabeth I produced an ethos
that aided in stirring the movement she wanted to build. She overcame the cultural barrier of

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women in leadership by strategically using courtship ethos to make her listeners comfortable
enough to receive her message.
Watson jumps this same patriarchal hurdle by creating an ethos that allows her modern
audience to effectively receive the message of gender equality held by the HeForShe campaign.
Watson builds on her preexisting ethos as a high-class celebrity in order to connect with her
audience and allow for her message to be better heard. The celebrity status as someone very
well known in the public eye makes Watson a unique choice for the UN. The UN as a political
organization calls on the worlds diplomatic leaders to stimulate positive interaction between
nations. For the UN to choose a young woman who finds her fame in the world of popular
culture is bold and rare. Yet this choice becomes clearer when one takes into consideration
Watsons preexisting ethos. Watsons preexisting ethos, which stems from her childhood in the
spotlight, allows the UN to capitalize on her positive public image. In fact, this connection to
popular culture might be the best way to spread the political movement of HeForShe. Political
campaigns today struggle to catch attention. [] One way to make their discourse noticeable,
understandable, memorable, and emotionally charged is to participate strategically in popular
culture(Anderson 332). Beginning with Watsons first appearance in popular culture in 2001
during the opening of the first Harry Potter movie, she never quite left the spotlight. Her beauty,
intelligence, and avoidance of the party scene kept her as a cultural phenomenon, and so a
perfect choice for the UNs HeForShe campaign. Watsons celebrity allows the public to attach
positive attributes to her character without knowing her personally. Melding the worlds of
politics with popular culture boosts Watsons ethos to a wide audience, creating more chance for
effectiveness. Watsons speech capitalizes on this ethos, and then develops it through personal
stories and direct wording style to let her speech be received positively by her unique audience.

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Her Story Is Our Story
Zeroing in on the HeForShe launch speech, Watson uses anecdotal stories to boost her
ethos, which in turn supports the speechs effectiveness. Watson starts her argument by revealing
how her elders never held her back growing up because she is female. She claims, My life is a
sheer privilege because my parents didnt love me less because I was born a daughter. My school
didnt limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didnt assume that I would go less far because I
might give birth to a child one day(Watson). Watson shares these personal narratives to establish
a goal of what a girls upbringing should look like. Since Watsons upbringing was so positive,
she establishes herself as a leader in this concept because she experienced it first hand. Watsons
personal narrative functions as a way to garner support for her position (Petre 30). She wants the
audience to see her stories of privilege as an example or goal. These stories are a part of her
ethos, as something to look up to and strive for. Watsons personal narrative also bolsters her
ethos by acting not just as an individual goal, but also as a cultural goal. As a speech entering a
wide conversation of feminist rhetoric, Watsons stories help to reveal a different cultural goal of
feminism. Kornfield points out, Post-feminism is a troubled term. As used in popular culture,
the word suggests that the United States has moved beyond feminism: that feminism has
achieved its goal(equality) and is (or should be) over now (Kornfield 445). Watson even
mentions, We are struggling for a unifying word(Watson). Watson offers her stories as a new
cultural goal to contrast the old perceived goal of post-feminism held by many in current
popular and political culture. This offering of personal narrative boosts her ethos as she
demonstrates to the culture at large that her upbringing should be a cultural goal and something
to look up to.

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Watson also offers personal stories to establish similitude with the audience, again
enhancing her ethos. Watson shares about inadvertent feminists in her life, hoping that others in
the audience have similar people in their lives as well. In regards to these inadvertent feminists
she comments, We need more of those(Watson). By establishing shared experience with the
audience, Watson creates a feeling of sameness. Beason points out,
One important type of signaled ethos results when the speakers point out
similarities between themselves and their audiences, an effective tactic in many
contexts. Almost all people are more likely to accept and trust a communicator
who is perceived as being one of them, since such a commonality gives the
impression that communicator and audience share backgrounds, goals, and
values(Beason 331).
Watsons stories manufacture the idea for her audience that they share common experiences,
creating similitude. Even her pronoun choice we builds on this idea. By emphasizing this
connection, the audience attaches positive associations to Watsons character and her speech,
boosting her ethos. With a rise of ethos then comes a continuous rise in effectiveness.
Watson also uses strategically chosen personal stories to offer a narrative of rising above
the victim mentality by acknowledging the multi-sided pain experienced by all involved. Not
only does Watson tell stories of her privilege, as discussed before, but also of her oppression.
Watson describes, When I was 8, I was called bossy because I wanted to direct a play we would
put on for our parents. When at 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the
media(Watson). Though she mentions these examples of personal oppression, Watson also
highlights stories of others in her life who also experienced oppression. She points out in
particular how men in her life also face sexism, and sympathizes with them. She states, Ive

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seen my fathers role as a parent being valued less by society. Ive seen young men suffering
from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a man[]Ive
seen men fragile and insecure by what constitutes male success. Men dont have the benefits of
equality, either(Watson). By balancing stories of personal oppression with stories of others
oppression, Watson addresses the initial reality of sexism without staying bogged down in
personal stories of woe. She builds credibility enough to represent stories of oppression without
being too compromised by situations that are more difficult than her own. As a woman speaking
in a political context, it was in Watsons best interest to acknowledge the reality of sexism while
acting as if this reality were not a limiting factor in her own success (Chetkovich 126). Watson
shares how sexism affected her and those around her, while not being overcome by it. She
separates herself enough from the oppression to remove sympathetic listening, and yet creates an
ethos where people want to listen. Also, by establishing that oppression happens to both sides of
the gender spectrum, Watson boots her ethos by seeming wise and aware of multiple social
perspectives at once. Personal stories allow for Watson to open up a connection with the
audience while still separating herself from being a weak victim of sexism. Watsons selective
vulnerability establishes positive report with the audience, further elevating her ethos and
increasing effectiveness.
Words Sharper Than A Double-Edged Sword
Watson uses more than just personal stories to get her ethos across. Watson chooses to
also use a straightforward wording style in order to plainly convey her points, improving her
image as an accessible and personable leader. Since her claims are perceived as reasonable and
direct, the audience receives both Watsons ethos and speech well. Watson begins using direct
wording style to combat institutionalized gender stereotypes. Before diving into the text, some

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important context of institutionalized gender stereotypes must be discussed. Emily Martin
conducted research on medical textbooks and how they present gendered stereotypes in the
descriptions of conception. She found that allowing them to exist in these institutionalized
educational tools perpetuates these gendered stereotypes. She describes, What we are seeing
now is similar: the importation of cultural ideas about passive females and heroic males into the
personalities of gametes(Martin 500). Martins research highlights an ever-present example of
institutional gender stereotypes of a passive female and a heroic male, which is what Watson
is consciously trying to combat in her speech. The labeling of non-gendered objects with gender
stereotypes creates cultural boundaries for both men and women. These stereotypes are then
reinforced by institutionalized programs like education and media, which is why Watson tried so
consciously to avoid gender stereotypes in her speech.
With the prevalence of institutionalized gender stereotypes in mind, Watson carefully
remains free of unnecessary gender stereotypes. Choosing to demonstrate this direct wording
style, Watson uses parallel sentence structure and simple examples to make the concept of gender
equality plain and accessible to her audience. She also uses gender-inclusive language with
pronouns like we and both multiple times to show a conscious effort towards equality. She
states, If men dont have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women wont feel compelled
to be submissive. If men dont have to control, women wont have be controlled. Both men and
women should feel free to be sensitive (Watson). Here, Watson uses the parallel structure of
control and controlled, along with aggressive with submissive to reveal the simplicity of
her argument. With simplicity comes easy accessibility, which builds her ethos as a relatable
orator. She goes on to say, Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and
women should feel free to be strong. [] We should stop defining each other by what we are not

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and start defining ourselves by who we are (Watson). Watson also combats the institutional
gender stereotypes by her repetition of both and we instead of referring to the masses as man
or man kind and also repeating the sentence structure of both men and women are free. Her
pronoun repetition reverses the gendered pronouns, while also enhancing the repetition of her
gender-inclusive phrase both men and women are free. Additionally, by pairing these carefully
chosen pronouns with verbs like free and defining Watson places power in the hands of
everyone, not just one specific group of people. This delegation of power bolsters her ethos in
the eyes of the audience who want validation and a platform for power. Adding to the pronoun
repetition, her recurrent phrase both men and women are free also helps to oppose
institutionalized gender stereotypes. As seen by Fannie Lou Hamer in many of her speeches,
effective opposition of formalized institutions is something to repeatedly define and reconstruct
for an audience. (Brooks 526) Just as Hamer demonstrates, successfully changing an institution
requires repeated definition of the issue for the audience, which Watson also does with her same
repeated phrase. By continuously countering the set gender stereotypes, she redefines what she
wants the culture to be, where both men and women are free.
In continuation of her effort to speak in a direct wording style, Watson uses ideographs to
combat gender stereotypes. Ideographs common themed words and phrases used to represent a
concept help Watson to release women from the restrictions of gender stereotypes. (Chong) In
the span of one minute, Watson speaks words like imprisoned, jail, and bondage to
describe gender stereotyped actions, while using words like free and freedom in relation to
the HeforShe campaign. The ideographs of freedom and bondage allow Watson to shift the
rhetoric away from gendered stereotypes and make the concepts universal. Ideographs transform
womens rhetoric from feminine to androgynous in the modern political context. (Chong 678) By

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choosing to use words like freedom and free to describe the HeForShe campaign, Watson
takes the focus away from the gendered issue and shifts the language to make sexism a shared
burden. Describing sexism in terms of imprisonment and bondage transforms the language
into a more universal issue. Both men and women know what is it like to feel both in bondage
and free, making the topic accessible to all. With this shift comes an establishment of
overseeing power and awareness for Watson, which boosts her ethos in the eyes of the audience.
No demographic of the audience is singled out or left out by her language. She transforms a
womans issue into a peoples issue. (Chong) Watsons ethos increases as she refines her
direct wording to battle institutionalized gender stereotypes, making it more appealing for the
audience to want to listen to her.
Humor also acts as a direct style choice, which creates connection with her audience in
an attempt to seem more relatable. With a personable ethos comes a further acceptance of the
idea Watson presents. Near the ending of her speech, Watson remarks, You might be thinking:
Who is this Harry Potter girl and what is she doing speaking at the UN? And its a really good
question. Ive been asking myself the same thing (Watson). Watsons clever words allow the
audience a second to step back from the heavy topic at hand and share a candid moment. The
resulting laughter from the audience shows that they fully accepted her witty humor and so
agreed with the points she made. Relevant wit is the safest form of humor to use for any sort of
political situation because it allows the audience to display their overt appreciation for the
content presented. (Stevens 35) Watsons well-received witty humor creates an image of
approachability. If Watson can joke about the situation, she must also be able to talk to anyone in
person about these issues. By becoming a personable orator, she becomes a more credible orator.

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Watsons choice to use strategic wording helped to break down barriers between her and the
audience, in turn boosting her ethos and bringing about a positive reaction.
How Do You Read A Million Minds?
With all this development of ethos, how can we really know if Watsons speech was as
successful as the ethos suggests? Her original, physical audience was fairly small, and yet the
viral nature of her speech video expanded her reach to the entire Internet. For both groups of
audiences, they displayed physical signs of agreement, affirming the success of Watsons effort
to develop her ethos. Looking first at the original audience physically present during the event,
there were two moments where the audience erupted into uninvited applause. Uninvited applause
is specifically described as applause that does not relate to rhetorical cues given by the orator but
is initiated by the audience. (Wells and Bull 323) These two specific moments were points in the
speech where Watson commented on women having the right to control their own bodies and
then also her invitation for men to join the campaign. Both of these moments brought on 10
seconds of uninvited applause, along with whoops and exclamations of agreement. These pauses
for uninvited applause reveal the audiences desire to affirm Watsons opinions of those specific
topics. By Watson not specifically setting up the moment rhetorically for applause, the audience
could respond exactly how they felt led. In this case, the reiteration of approval was so necessary
that the audience felt they needed to take an extra 10 seconds to support the content the orator
presented. Wells and Bull elaborate on a study done by Bull in 2000 by saying, One third of the
applause to nonrhetorically formatted statements (uninvited applause) was synchronous with the
end point of the speakers utterance(Wells and Bull, 323). As Wells and Bull reveal, uninvited
applause shows a statistically significant correlation with audience approval of the subject matter
discussed. With this information, one can assume that the audience listening and applauding

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agreed with the points she made. This uninvited applause from the original audience further
demonstrates that Watsons development of her ethos was in fact effective because the audience
was not manipulated into applauding. Wells and Bulls research supports the idea that uninvited
applause is a genuine expression of audience support for the orator and the subject at hand.
The second, more global audience showed physical signs of support through their
comments and number of shares online of the video of Watsons speech. Since Watsons speech
was posted on the UN YouTube channel two days after the actual speech took place, over
800,000 people viewed the speech with many commenting on it and liking it. By the sheer
magnitude of likes and shares of this video, one can infer that the audience generally received
Watsons speech well. Nearly 20,000 alone people liked the video, with many more sharing the
video on their personal social media outlets. The viral nature of the speech speaks to the amount
of resonance the audience felt with Watsons points and desire to share these points with those
who follow them online. This idea of online interactivity reveals a deeper level of agency for
people when they react to things online. As also seen with reactions to TV shows, interactivity
generates audience agency, which is central to the success of these shows. This interactivity
holds central to the idea of agency, which transfers power and authority to the viewer. (Holmes
218). Though Holmes discusses reality TV, the same concept of interactivity can translate to
online videos as well. Since interactivity was available with Watsons speech, the audience felt
power to voice their opinions after the fact. Though these digital responses are not tangible in a
material way, they still hold great weight because of the agency the audience holds when they
interact with the speech online. Since the number of online responses and shares became so
substantial in such a short amount of time, the interactive response can be deemed very positive.

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This again reveals that Watsons development of ethos was effective because the audience
physically demonstrated their support through likes, views, and shares online.
The Pop-Political Transition
Though studies of women in politics have flooded communication scholarship, there is a
great lack of study on popular culture celebrities who enter the political sphere. This article
works to help bridge this gap, as many political groups begin to notice Watsons success with the
UN. The transition for celebrities from the world of pop culture to the political sphere as
advocates and ambassadors has taken hold as a recent trend. Celebrities who are well educated
and of positive standing with the public make for perfect candidates for this type of endeavor.
Some examples include Angelina Jolie as an ambassador for the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees while also launching multiple organizations working to aid in the
development of human rights around the world. (Angelina Jolie) Demi Lovato is an Honorary
Ambassador of Education by the American Partnership of Eosinophilic Disorders as well as the
LA Pride Parade Grand Marshall. (Demi Lovato) Even George Clooney is an advocate for the
Not On Our Watch Project, helping to prevent global atrocities. He worked particularly hard
during the conflict in Darfur, speaking at the Save Darfur rally in Washington DC in 2006.
(George Clooney) These are just a hand full of the many examples of celebrities working to
make a difference with their fame. As the academic world fights to stay relevant in a newly
technology-based world, the study of how celebrities use ethos to combine the pop culture with
the political culture to make a difference needs to be a priority. This trend will continue, and the
academic world should take notice.
Ethos as a rhetorical device can make or break a rhetorical event, depending on how the
orator understands the extent of ethos influence. Watson fully understood how ethos impacts

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effectiveness, and in turn used her personal stories and direct wording style to enhance it. Both
the audience present during the event and the online audience responded positively to her speech
because of Watsons efforts. Their uninvited applause and massive online viewing and sharing
demonstrate just how positively the audience reacted to Watsons points. As further research
surfaces, one can hope to see more study of celebrities who enter the political sphere. These
studies could help worthy organizations gain visibility and ultimately raise support for their
causes by revealing how to choose the perfect spokesperson. In choosing the right ambassador,
the public will open up funds and support, making a real dent in the issues at hand. Yet, none of
this can happen without first understanding how to present the organization. With a good
spokesperson comes the right image, and with the right image comes positive public responses.
All it takes is finding a pretty face with the perfect reputation to do the job.

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