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Mrs. Motsinger
1 August 2017
audience to act on behalf of a cause or certain interest. Hillary Rodham Clinton fits perfectly into
this pattern; her speech on women’s rights strives to convince the audience to further support
women in all fields. Clinton delivered the oration in Beijing, China on September 5th, 1995 in
front of the 50,000 attendees at the U.N. 4th World Conference in Women Plenary Session. The
previous three conferences (that were held in México, Copenhagen, and Nairobi) were
additionally organized by the Commission on the Status of Women and all worked to implement
rules protecting women's education, social standing, health, and all additional manners of life.
While the successes that every conference engendered provided support and desire for female
reformation, they weren’t baseless; interest in women’s issues arose due to innovative ideas that
were shared by speakers like Clinton. As the First Lady of the United States and an avid
supporter of women’s activism, she represented her country while delivering a speech meant to
prioritize women and convince the audience to do the same through rhetorical conventions.
Clinton utilizes a plethora of ethos, logos, and pathos strategies to represent the importance of
The audience respects Clinton and treats her as an accredited source because she employs
methods to enhance her character. In the beginning of her speech, Clinton thanks the audience
and notable figures: “Thank you very much, Gertrude Mongella, for your dedicated work…
Student 2
distinguished delegates, and guests...I would like to think the Secretary General for inviting me”
(Clinton 1-3). She acknowledges the status and accomplishments of her peers while showing
gratitude towards the head of the convention, Mongella. By showing this humility, Clinton
introduces herself as a modest professional to her audience, ensuring that they will take her
words seriously and trust her character. In Thank You For Arguing, Heinrichs describes Clinton’s
tactic as decorum, the idea that “your audiences find you agreeable if you meet their
expectations” (Heinrichs 47). The audience of the Beijing Conference contained international
representatives that were used to acting with consideration and humility in the public eye. Such
behavior would also be expected of the First Lady of the United States: ensuring the audience’s
agreement through poise and gratitude. Thus, she thanks the Secretary General and compliments
the delegates, enhancing her audience’s view of her and achieving her goal of getting them on
her side. She is able to further win the audience’s support by establishing her own credit as she
describes how “over the past 25 years, [she had] worked persistently on issues relating to
women, children, and families” (Clinton 53-54). Clinton describes her credentials by listing her
experience advocating women’s rights. Providing this information builds up her ethos and
enhances her image. This technique of bragging “is the easiest way to show how great [the
speaker] is,” as it builds up their positive traits (Heinrichs 64). The audience truly trusts
Clinton’s word because she gives them all of the information to confidently do so. They are fully
able to understand her character and depend on her as a speaker for women’s rights. Thus, the
first section of Clinton’s mission to ensure that the audience’s respect succeeds as she employs
convincing decorum and bragging. This bedazzlement of her character guarantees the audience’s
interest and willingness to act as they believe they are receiving information from a credible
source.
Student 3
In the middle of her speech, Clinton ensnares the audience with logical connections that
leave no room for doubt. She utilizes an arsenal of examples to act as support for her claim. An
important baseline of proofs assists in the capture of the audience’s attention: “I have met
women in Indonesia, who come together… discuss nutrition… I have met women in South
Africa who helped end apartheid” (Clinton 57-62). Clinton provides examples to prove that
women are fighting for deserved rights. She provides specific cases of women around the world
that are willing to act in order to stimulate the audience’s own desire to speak up for women.
This strategy of logos is known as inductive logic, or “argument by example” (Henrichs 141).
This useful strategy uses specific examples to support a more widespread cause. Here, Clinton
uses an example to give concrete, real world examples of current women fighting for rights. The
examples stimulate the audience’s minds and convince them to trust that Clinton’s ideals are
valid. Furthermore, Clinton makes her audience trust in her by ensuring that they comprehend
her logic. She emphasizes that women must be appreciated by describing how they “are the
primary caretakers for most of the world’s children and elderly” (Clinton 75). Throughout her
logic, Clinton implements a common theme of women caring for others (usually children).
Therefore, this audience of mothers and family members is more willing to act and support
women’s rights because they can identify with the examples. As used here, a commonplace is a
“common sense of [the audience]” and “represents beliefs or rules of thumb” (Heinrichs 107).
The audience will be enthralled by an idea if they can understand the proof and premise. They
can easily ponder the information and importance of women’s rights by mentally comparing the
facts and their own experiences. Thus, the audience can fully support Clinton’s advancement of
women in society as she presents them with convincing logic through examples and
commonplace.
Student 4
Furthermore, Clinton pulls on the audience’s heartstrings through pathos to ensure that
her cause resonates with them and drives them to action. Near the end of her speech, Clinton
strengthens her audience’s empathy by listing horrific violations of women’s rights: “It is a
violation of human rights when babies are… drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken,
simply because they are born girls” (Clinton 139-141). By simply describing the unmentionable
fates and crimes against women, Clinton changes the audience’s mood from empowered to
outraged. With their new emotions, the audience understands the importance of her cause and
joins her in her calls for action. Heinrichs describes the importance of controlling the argument’s
mood towards one that the audience will be sympathetic to, usually by giving examples or stories
(Heinrichs 81-83). Here, Clinton provides the conference's delegates with an atrocious story to
ensure that the mood changes. Even the words “choice” and “elaboration” help change the mood.
Negative words such as “violation” and “suffocated” will stick in the audience’s head and
remind them why women’s rights are necessary. They will want to escape the horrific mood and
thus be motivated to act as Clinton wishes. Additionally, Clinton ignites her audience as she
reveals that they are being belittled in society: “older, deeply-rooted problems continue to
diminish the potential [of women]” (Clinton 190-191). Clinton describes society as one that
crushes women’s potential as a successful attempt to anger her audience. This rhetorical strategy,
known as belittlement, arises by directing “the audience’s fury at someone by portraying his lack
of concern over their problems” (Heinrichs 95). The audience would rightfully trust someone
that shares their values and cares over someone that views them as miniscule or patronizes them.
Thus, the audience turns to Clinton’s side as she describes how society views their opinions and
potential as unimportant. Clinton gains her audience’s sympathy by telling a heartfelt story and
A single speech holds unmeasurable power. Speeches can completely rewrite the
opinions of a crowd and inspire great action, all while turning an uncertain idea into a
revolutionary cause. “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” does just that, as it formulates a
feminine revolution and precisely describes the integral position of women in society. Clinton
sets a standard for a future in which women are free to pursue all aspects of life without facing
oppression. She speaks calmly and emphasizes the point that everyone must fight for women to
be rightfully respected, whether they are a man, woman, or child. The speech provides women
with a voice to rally behind, one that becomes increasingly important to the feminist movement
even today. This impeccable speech deserves to reside with even the most noteworthy orations as
it defines Clinton’s political career and serves as one of the top speeches for women’s rights that
have ever been formulated. With these words, Clinton fully achieves her goal of depicting the
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