Katrina Sisco

Professor Fielding

WRTC 103

February 27th, 2017

The Evolution of Womens Power

As our world continues to evolve, so does the power of women. The Philadelphia

Inquirer, author of We See a Movement Here, published January 23rd of 2017, argues that women

standing united have built an invincible community allowing their power to grow. Katrina

Siscos PSA, History is Herstory, too, also portrays a similar message, encouraging viewers to

contribute to the evolution of this prominent matter. Two such pieces, Philadelphia Inquirers

article and Katrina Siscos PSA, developed credibility with personal research and acknowledging

feminist icons, applying facts and statistics, and portraying strong emotional appeals. From these

two pieces, readers can examine how the same message can be presented and empathized

through different perspectives.

The article We See a Movement Here, written and published by the Philadelphia Inquirer,

offers an overview of the womens rights movement that took place in January of 2017. The

reporter explains the specific event then the motivation and plan behind this movement becomes

a focal point. Social media contributed a huge amount to making these movements happen. This

article empowers individuals and supports women of all ages; it conveys passion for this topic

and advocates for individual voice. The authors goal is to convince readers to get involved and

voice their passions or concerns about a matter. The author describes the march as more than just

a march; it built a community amongst women all around the world.

 Throughout Philadelphia Inquirers article, the author strengthens their appeal to ethos by

crediting figures of feminism and applying personal research. The Philadelphia Inquirer is the

third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States and has won nineteen Pulitzer Prizes

(A Brief History of the Inquirer). It was founded by John Norvell, former editor of Pennsylvania's

largest newspaper (A Brief History of the Inquirer). Individuals such as Gloria Steinem and

Emily Morse were credited in this article as individuals that made this movement happen

(Philadelphia Inquirer). The reporter's personal research on these figures proved to readers that

the reporter has done their homework and is a trustworthy source. The author briefly introduces

an overview of the most recent election and why women gathered together all over the country to

make a change (Philadelphia Inquirer). Informing readers on the motives of this event gives them

more of an understanding of the impact of the movement and how relevant the topic actually is.

Now that the readers are more aware of how important and valuable individual rights are, the

author is getting closer to reaching the initial goal for writing.

Adding to the Philadelphia Inquirers appeal to ethos, the staff emphasizes the impact of

this movement to womens power through facts and statistics. The appeal to logos begins when

the author describes The downside, the election of a troublingly unqualified man as president,

motivated about 3 million women, men and children to gather in 637 locations around the world,

according to a running tally of crowd estimates collected by a Connecticut professor

(Philadelphia Inquirer). This fact immediately shows readers how large the movement was and

the author goes on to demonstrate how the power will continue to grow from there by explaining

March organizers have collected names and, going forward, will provide specific ways to

harness this new energy into civic action that goes beyond political campaigns (Philadelphia

Inquirer) These ideas and statistics progress the reporters argument about the growth of
womens power. If individuals unite, they will become an unstoppable force and inevitably

expand; the change people have hoped for will become a reality.

Along with strong logos and ethos appeals, the author closes the article with an appeal to

pathos by using emotional language. He first introduces what is at stake for women today: their

freedom and equality. He achieves this by stating: Friday's grim Inauguration Day, which

began a new, frightening era in these United Divided States (Philadelphia Inquirer). He is

appealing to everybody, not just women, by noting how the entire populations reputation is at

risk. Now that the readers are aware of the consequences, the author goes on to suggest a

solution, which, in this case, is advocating for individual rights. This is done by creating an

image of strong, united women; the reporter explains that the movement established a

community. One couldn't be in the midst of those throng of like-minded people in high spirits on

Saturday and feel isolated or helpless (Philadelphia Inquirer). The authors goal when using

emotional language is to motivate readers and radiate personal confidence; this appeal to pathos

will strengthen womens power individually and as a group.

Although the author shows various rhetorical appeals throughout the article, this piece

could use more outside credentials to enhance the argument even more and offer more

knowledge about womens rights. The only outside sources the Philadelphia Inquirer uses are the

mention of three figures that have contributed to this specific movement and one statistic that

listed demographics. Although those sources assisted the development of the authors argument,

additional facts about the general topic would not only intensify the authors views but it would

also make him/her more credible. Considering the piece as a whole, the author seems to only

reach surface-level and never goes in-depth when appealing to ethos, logos and pathos. If the
author dove deeper into the topic by adding more sources and analyzing their main points, this

piece would be a lot stronger and have more of an impact on readers.

History is Herstory, too captures the emotion

and power that has revolutionized womens
rights.

This PSA, designed by Katrina Sisco, asserts feminine dominance and individual power.

A black background with white, pink and red lettering evokes passion and femininity. The main

slogan is written at the top in a bold font that states: History is Herstory, Too. A picture from

the womens march in Washington in January of 2017 is shown. Focusing in on feminist icon

Gloria Steinem, this PSA captures an individuals emotion towards womens movements,
especially their power and rights. Underneath the women-marching image lies a slogan

encouraging viewers to stand up and fight for what they think is right for themselves and

everyone else. The designers intended audience is any individual, teenager and beyond, that

prioritize individual rights and equality. The womens power symbol is incorporated and the Ms.

Foundation for Women logo, a non-profit organization striving for womens equality. Coca-Cola

partners with Ms. Foundation for Women to help the cause.

The designer appeals to ethos by incorporating trustworthy sponsors, symbols and images

into the PSA that relate to the progress of womens power. A main focal point of this PSA is the

photo of Gloria Steinem in the center. She is a feminist icon that has written several best sellers

about womens power, has spoken at hundreds of womens marches/events, and co-founded Ms.

Foundation for Women (Linda Napikoski). Having a powerful icon like Gloria Steinem be a

prominent part of this PSA proves that the author knows a lot about her as an individual and how

shes brought success to this topic. Along with the image portrayed in the advertisement, two

large organizations sponsor the PSA to emphasize the importance of this focus- Ms. Foundation

for Women and Coca-Cola. Ms. Foundation for Women is the oldest womens foundation in the

United States and the CEO of this sponsor works at the Womens Campaign School at Yale

University (Forwomen.org). The author has clearly done her research and provides viewers

numerous appeals to ethos that makes this source reliable.

On top of the authors strong credentials, the intensity of the background image in the

PSA appeals to logos through a more visual approach. Viewers can observe the passion and

inspiration in these movements through the image of thousands of women all marching together

(Sisco). The location of the march and the estimated population can be determined through this

PSA (Sisco). The population of a womens march is essential to a womens power PSA because it
strengthens the designers initial goal for creating this advertisement. Katrina Siscos goal is to

not only inform viewers on the significance of this matter but to persuade them to get involved

and support as well. Because the viewers can visually interpret how big these marches are and

how many other ordinary people participate, they are more likely to become inspired and engage.

With a strong appeal to pathos through images, colors and fonts, the designer

accomplishes her goal of inspiring viewers to support womens rights. The march in the

background is bursting with pink and is filled with meaningful signs, such as one that states: We

may have not chosen the time but the time has chosen us (Sisco). Adding onto the emotions that

the background evokes, Gloria Steinem staring into the distance, smiling, is another approach to

emotion. Her soft smile demonstrates an open-minded, positive outlook and her eyes gazing into

the distance symbolizes potential success and hope for the future of women. Steinems facial

expressions can motivate viewers to also have a positive and open-minded perspective on this

topic. Another way the designer convinces viewers to gain passion and inspiration is through her

color and font choices. The pink words radiate passion and the white words establish the

innocence and neutrality women desire. While these colors express a softer tone, the word her

is all capitalized and red, provoking dominance and power for women (Sisco). The ray of colors

and fonts grab the viewers attention and the words like herstory, change, and support

formulate enthusiasm for the matter and make the viewers want to contribute to this movement

(Sisco).

Although Katrina Sisco has various rhetorical appeals present in her PSA, she couldve

strengthened her claim by adding more facts and statistics into the advertisement. The PSA has

several credentials that prove the significance of womens rights and many emotions that

persuade viewers to grow an interest in the subject. However, adding a powerful fact or statistic
into the advertisement can potentially make the viewers even more intrigued and the designers

original goal would be accomplished.

The Philadelphia Inquirers We See a Movement Here and Katrina Siscos History is

Herstory, too are similar because they both persuade readers to capture the power of uniting.

These two pieces are different because the verbal argument drifts off and discusses how one can

start a movement so easily (social media) and the PSA does not. When it comes to how well each

author conveys their messages, the PSA is more powerful because viewers get a visual

representation as to how big, how colorful and how diverse the movement in January of 2017

was. Even though the verbal argument also includes the population of the movement, nothing

compares to actually seeing something in an image. Also, the PSAs messages are inspiring-

although they are concise, they still get the message across whereas the author of the verbal

argument neglected to go beyond surface-level with his points.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, author of We See a Movement Here, and Katrina

Siscos History is Herstory, too appeals to ethos, logos and pathos by weaving in facts and

statistics, using emotional language, and recognizing important individuals that contributed to

the upbringing of womens power. Both authors take one event and address its background and

motives to prove to readers that personal beliefs brought together can bring success.
 Works Cited

"About." Gloria Steinem. Office of Gloria Steinem, Brooklyn, New York, n.d. Web. 22
Feb. 2017.

"Find out More about the Ms. Foundation for Women!" Ms. Foundation for Women. N.p.,
Jan. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

Luscombe, Belinda. "10 Questions for Gloria Steinem." Time. Time Inc., 15 Aug. 2011.
Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

Staff, Journey. "The History of the Coca-Cola Logo | Our History | Coca-Cola GB." The
History of the Coca- Cola Logo | Our History | Coca-Cola GB. The Coca-Cola
Company, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

"Symbols of Feminism: Past, Present and Outside the Box." VitaminW. VitaminW, 7 Oct.
2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

Williams, Edgar. "A Brief History of The Inquirer." Philly.com. Philadelphia Inquirer, 25
Sept. 2009. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

""We See a Movement Here"." Infobase Learning - Login. Ed. Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 Jan. 2017. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Wolf, Bryon. "Comparing Trump's Inauguration Crowd to the Women's March." CNN.
Cable News Network, 21 Jan. 2017. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.