Running Head: GENRE ANALYSIS

Equality among Women/ gender/ race, Genre Analysis

Illiana Curiel
The University of Texas at El Paso
Fall 2015

GENRE ANALYSIS
Introduction

All my battles were with male egos. Im just looking for equality, not to dominate
but I want to control my vision. quote by Joni Mitchell, New York Magazine. Equality
is not about overpowering males it is about women not having to live their lives through a
cookie cutter stereotype that women are weak or must never be CEOs, or they will be
looked upon as too strong and too aggressive. In Emma Watsons speech presented to the
UN as a Goodwill Women Ambassador for her campaign called HeforShe. This campaign
stands for feminism in a positive way by expressing that being a feminist doesnt only
represent womens equality but mens equality as well for example, men not able to
express their feelings because it is seen in society as weak and by all god means men
must only be strong and tough. Emma is trying to break the barrier of everyday gender
roles. In the super bowl commercial put on by the womens brand Always it is taking
everyday normal people asking them what it means to do something like a girl then
asking younger girls how a girl does something and them not seeing it as an insult
because they have yet to be socialized in a community that belittles women. This
commercial produced the hash tag #likeagirl and brought to the surface an insult that has
been overlooked for decades. Equality among women, race and gender shouldnt just be
brought to the public eye by aggressive feminism but should target society by realizing
womens genders roles have become an issue that must be stopped.

Audience and purpose

The first genre is an online article; Emma Watson delivers a game changing
speech for the UN from New York Daily News. Watson states in her speech That she

GENRE ANALYSIS

wants men to take up with mantle so that their sisters and daughters have freedom and be
free from prejudice but also so that their sons have submission to be vulnerable too to be
a more true version of himself. Emmas statement supports the targeted audience for this
specific genre, which is typography. The audience includes young women who need to be
fully informed of day-to-day feminisms around her, to men who grow up being told that
men shouldnt cry. Of course it targets people who are fans of the Harry Potter star,
maybe it is also targeting someone who just happens to be skimming the web and is a fan
of reading New York Daily News. The audience will not spend a lot of time with this
article mainly because its not too long but it is also not too short. The article provides the
audience with the right amount of information, quotes, and pictures to get through it in 7
to 10 minutes. Just the perfect amount of time to not lose the readers attention but still
give them the information they need. Some of the ways the article keeps the audience at
full attention were with the quotes that were provided from Watson herself for example
"You might think: who is this Harry Potter girl?" she said. "What is she doing at the
UN? I've been asking myself at the same thing. All I know is that I care about this
problem and I want to make this better. And having seen what I've seen and given the
chance, I feel my responsibility to say something. It persuades in such a way that is
convincing and makes the audience feel as passionate as she is to bring women and men
together and have equality in all areas of our lives. Compared to the second genre
presented, which is a commercial called Always #Likeagirl where the intended audience
is for young women and men, commercial watchers for example anyone who watched the
super bowl as it was a featured commercial. So the audience is mostly all ages, races,
and genders of Americans nation wide. The purpose of this commercial which was

GENRE ANALYSIS
featured as a 2015 super bowl commercial was intended to persuade, and entertain. It

persuaded by showing Americans a stereotype that has never been brought to the surface
that maybe saying like a girl is a complete insult. It is entertaining because Always
used many different ages and races of girls and even boys and put them right in front of
the camera and interviewed them. The people who were picked randomly were filmed
without fully being explained the message of Like a Girl to them. After being filmed
they realized what they were doing and how they used the stereotype so blindly. The
difference in the purpose for both of these genres is that one is aiming completely at
entertaining which is in the like a girl commercial but it still has a very good and
thorough message that comes along the way as the audience watches the commercial. On
the other hand as the audience read the HeforShe article it strictly informs the audience
that it is an article persuades feminism and equality among the genders.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos Pathos, Logos
Both genres have many rhetorical issues in all three areas but exhibit them in very
different ways. In the HeforShe article it shows mainly pathos. The emotions that are
translated through Emma Watson speech are passionate, inspiring, informing, moving and
expressive. The credibility is that a professional journalist who works for The New York
Daily News who wrote the article and mentions that Emma Watson after recently
graduation became a U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador giving the whole article and
speech credibility as a whole. This speech is creditable because it is written for New York
Daily News a worldwide known and worthy news outlet. Also containing quotes from
Emma Watsons speech. In the Always, Like a girl commercial the emotions that are
translated through pathos are that it evokes strength, and makes you sit back and think

GENRE ANALYSIS
and gives you passion and drive to stand with what this commercial is conveying which

is womens equality and the right to be a strong independent women just as a man can be.
This commercial is creditable not only because it was viewed nation wide on super bowl
Sunday but also it is credited because it implies that it is going to be a strong message. It
is the company Always which is a womens feminine product company. So it is obvious
that it is aimed towards teaching young girls feminism and shaping the younger
generation to form new social norms and banning like a girl from their everyday
vocabulary. The evidence to support the claims is that these are real life women and
children in this video. There is no script it is a straight interview. The company Always
credits it with its nation widespread ad and the hash tag, #likeagirl. These two genres
have a very similar emotional translation happening in them because they both transmit
feelings of power and passion to stand up for gender roles along with equality supporting
women right to be what they want and to be good at it.
Structure and Delivery

The structure of the HeforShe NY Daily News article is organized in a very

orderly fashion by telling us a story of how Emma Watson started her campaign and why
she is doing it, leading on by giving examples of some of things she addressed, and
ending with pictures from the UN event in NYC and quotes from Watsons spech. There is
one limitation set which would be the difference between reading about the article and
watching it due to the pathos that is translated in the live speech with a lot of emotions of
inspiring and moving information. Other than being able to translate the emotions, the
rest of the article is open to freedom of expression using pictures and quotes. The

GENRE ANALYSIS
structure was very effective it is the kind of article that leads up to something interesting

at the end. The article did not lose the audience for one moment it is very interesting and
insisted on keeping the attention of the audience. It did not need more than one bold text
title it was separated with pure quotes which makes the reader have full attention.
The special vocabulary would be the name of Emmas Campaign, which is the
main reason for her speech, which is HeforShe. This is a solidarity campaign for gender
equality by UN Women. One of its main purposes is that it is aiming to engage men and
boys as agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and womens rights by
encouraging these males to take part in these inequalities faced by women. The most
important part of this article is the specific quotes coming straight from Emma Watsons
speech. The HeforShe article did not have as much structure as the Like a girl
commercial did. It is organized in chronological order and it tells a story each question
asked leads to the next question and leads to the next. For example when they ask the
young boy what he thinks like a girl means? And immediately gets asked after if he
thinks he insulted his sister. There were language and clothing limitations due to the fact
that the commercial was on national television and must go buy the rules of TV. The
structure is compelling and moving. It makes the audience think the way gender norms
are reflected in America. It makes men and young boys step back and realize that women
are just as strong as men can be and have every right to be.
Conclusion
Equality among women, race and gender shouldnt just be brought to the public
eye by aggressive feminism but should target society buy realizing womens genders

GENRE ANALYSIS
roles have become an issue that must be put to a stop. The examples are overwhelming
and can go on for days. The day feminism is no longer looked upon as a negative
annotation is the day people will realize feminism stands for the equality of women and
men, and can change gender norms for everyone. The next time people comment using
like a girl they will think about what that really means because women have every
right to be just as strong and willing as any men. The day men stop being scared of the
word feminist and stop overlooking and belittling women is the day the world will see
true equality and opportunity among genders.

GENRE ANALYSIS
Citations
New York Daily News: Monde, C. (2014, September 22).Emma Watson embraces
feminism, introduces 'HeForShe' campaign in speech at UN meeting. New York Daily

News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/emma-watsondefends-feminism-u-n-meeting-article-1.1948222

Always. (2014, June 26). Always #LikeAGirl[Video File].Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

Fashion Gone Rogue: NEW YORK MAGAZINE/Norman Jean Roy. (2015, Feburary 9).
Joni Mitchell Stars in New York Magazine, Talks Male Egos & Her Legacy. Retrieved
from http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/joni-mitchell-stars-new-york-magazine-talksmale-egos-legacy/