Anna Leonard 11/29/11 Body I. Historical Context for the Speech a.

1986- Sexual harassment is a form of legal job discrimination. b. 1992- The Supreme Court verifies womens right to have an abortion. c. 1994- violence against women act http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline3.html d. WTO is established e. February 13 A United Nations tribunal on human rights violations in the Balkans charges 21 Bosnian Serb commanders with genocide and crimes against humanity. f. Selena is killed g. Oklahoma bombing h. Christopher Reeve is paralyzed II. Biographical context a. Became first lady in 1992 b. Increased involvement in political issues c. Remolded the role of first lady d. White House agenda included pushing for children and womens rights e. http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ch-Co/Clinton-Hillary-Rodham.html f. As First Lady of Arkansas for a dozen years (1979-1981, 1983-1992), she chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Legal Services and the Children's Defense Fund. g. http://www.biography.com/people/hillary-clinton-9251306?page=1 III. Analysis of the speech a. Her examples are very specific. b. Addressed concerns that all women face c. Speaks of all women as a unit no matter what their background is d. Address all advantages of equality giving people who might a disagree a reason to agree e. She mentions the infanticide in China, which is very relevant given that China is hosting the conference. f. Refutes people who might not see the womens conference as important and justifies the reason for the conference. g. States what will happen if women are liberated and how it affects more than just women. h. States her 25 year credibility i. Brings up examples of what women are doing around the globe j. Brings up V J day which happened the weekend before k. Bettering the lives of women betters the lives of women and children l. She is sensitive to many of the problems that women are facing. m. She is facing a largely sympathetic audience, except for the Communist Chinese

n. Credibility- toured India and Pakistan earlier in 1995- details abuse of women o. Her litany was the most powerful part of the speech. IV. Media Attention/Reaction a. Ordinary Chinese women couldnt listen to the speech because it was blacked out on official radio and TV. b. Was against forced sterilization, but was for planned parenthood c. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-05/news/mn-42444_1_familyplanning-program d. The reaction was very positive. Her speech continued efforts in the USs communication with China. e. There is nothing in her speech that in any way deviates from our approach on China," the official said, "or on our desire to get the relationship stabilized and to get some momentum going. This is a United Nations conference and she was speaking out on a global problem." f. Rep Christopher H. Smith and Maria Kamm thought that the speech was very eloquent g. People also though that the speech was powerful, direct, effective. h. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/06/world/hillary-clinton-inchina-details-abuse-of-women.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm V. Why the speech would be effective in 2011? a. Women are still suffering from the same problems in 2011, especially women from 3rd world countries. b. Women and children cant read or write. Chelseas speech c. "Women perform 2/3 of the world's work and produce 1/2

the world's food, but earn just just 10% of the income and own 1% of the property." http://www.dosomething.org/news/its-2011-are-womensrights-still-worth-fighting-or-have-we-achieved-equality