Sosa 1

Amber Sosa

Miss.Johnson

English 9

January 19th, 2017

Emma Watsons Speech About Feminism

Will there ever truly be and end to gender inequality? Emma Watson is not only a known

actress but also identifies as a feminist . A feminist is someone who believes in the equality of

the genders, and Watson makes it clear how passionate she is for both genders to be involved in

feminism. Notably. Watsons speech is about the HeForShe campaign, which is a campaign

aiming for both women and men to work together to put an end to gender inequality. Watson

convinces those listening to her speech how crucial it is to be involved in feminism through ethos

and logos.

First most, a very clear rhetorical appeal in Watsons speech is her use of ethos. Watsons

use of ethos is show when she talks about her realizing from a young age how much sexism there

is around us and how much it affects women and men, I started questioning gender-based

assumptions when at eight I was confused at being called bossy, because I wanted to direct the

plays we put on for our parents- but the boys were not. When at 14 I started being sexualized by

certain elements of the press. When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports

teams because they didn't want to appear muscly. When at 18 my male friends were unable to

express their feelings (Watson 1). Its every evident about how Watson witnessed how double

standards can affect everyone, her dealing with sexism is very credible as to why she would want

to end gender inequality and makes us trust Watson as we listen to her educate us about how
important it is for people to be willing to change the injustice. Another piece of her speech that

uses ethos to convince the listener, is when Watson talk about her rights as a women, and how

most of these rights hasnt happened, I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I

am paid the same as my male counterparts, I think it is right that I should be able to make

decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the

policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the

same respect as men (Watson 1). Theres no doubt that Watson witnesses how men are

involved in the decision of what a women can do and not do with her body, how theres a lack of

women in politics, and how theres still a wage gap, shows how much inequality there still is.

Watson believes every woman should not still face these inequalities and as a woman herself, has

a right to want to make a change. Still, women everywhere still face the obstacles of inequality,

when there shouldnt have to be an obstacle in the first place. Watsons credibility and

experience dealing with sexism shows exactly why there needs to be a change. Meanwhile, while

Watson uses pathos in her speech she also uses a lot of logos to educate the listeners about the

inequalities faced everyday that causes the genders to feel trapped and not up to standard.

On the other hands, Watsons speech tells us a lot of statistics and the ways gender

inequality can truly end. Watsons use of logos is very prominent and educates us about how

small stereotypes can affect people in a huge way. In fact, Watson brings up the suicide rate of

men in the United Kingdom, which shows about societys expectation of how men are suppose

to be macho can truly cause a harm, Ive seen young men suffering from mental illness

unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look less macho-in fact in the UK suicide is

the biggest killer of men between 20-49 years of age (Watson 2). All things considered, it isnt
right for society and media to tell us how a men or women should act. Men should be over to

truly express their feelings and be able to get help rather than having to repress their emotions.

Its truly important that women and men be able to express themselves without worrying about

gender expectations. Watsons makes it clear for listeners that the numbers of men committing

suicide is alarming. Through her use of logos, she gives insight about the topic and lets us think

about how cruel standards can be to men. Similarly, Watson talks about how if there wasnt an

expectation for a man or woman to act a certain way, no one will feel as if they have to comply

in order to be accepted, 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 to be

controlled (Watson 2). Watson mentioning how if we stopped putting such controlling

expectation on men then women wouldnt have to feel like they have to give in to being the

opposite. Vice versa, if women dont have to be expected to act a certain way then men wont

have to either is crucial because gender roles and expectations is what hurts us the most.

Although its not easy to truly put an end to what society expects from the genders, its a true

progress when we bring awareness to these issues, may it be social media or a speech, the more

people can educate themselves about these standards, the better. The pure facts Watson uses to

convinces us get us thinking about how simple it would to end inequality by abolishing these

standards, yet its still not that easy.

In conclusion, if anything, true progress would be allowing men to express emotions

without telling them to man up. Progress is not pressurizing women to stay at home rather than

work yet not insulting woman who want to stay at home because its their choice. These small

things and awareness is what gets us closer to gender equality, it may not be guaranteed yet, but
the fact that many people will listen to Watsons speech, get educated and inspired is the type of

progress necessary. Watsons use of ethos and logos is what persuades and allows us to realize

just how much we need feminism.