Women’s Rights are Human Rights
by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Presented by Maria Castro
SOAPSTone- Speaker
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Hillary Rodham Clinton
First Lady (at time of speech)
Automatic ethos
Attended Wellesley College and was very active in
student politics
• Continued onto Yale Law school and then Yale
Child Study Center
• Worked in several committees in US Government
SOAPSTone- Occasion
• United Nations Fourth World Conference on
Women on September 5th, 1995 in Beijing,
China
• 189 different audiences were in attendance
• Were there to speak about issues women face
worldwide and came up with solutions on
how to fix them
SOAPSTone- Audience
• Specifically addresses Mrs. Mongella (Assistant
Secretary-General in the Division for the Advancement
of Women)
– “Mrs. Mongella, distinguished delegates and guests:”
– “There are some people who question the reason for this
conference. Let them listen to the voices of women in their
homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces.”
• The rest of attendees at the conference
• Anyone else listening or watching the broadcast who
could not attend the conference
– “It is indefensible that many women in non-governmental
organizations who wished to participate in this conference
have not been able to attend--- or have been prohibited from
fully taking part.
SOAPSTone- Purpose
• To address the issues that women are facing in
the US and all around the world and to find
solutions to fix those problems.
– “It is conferences like this that compel governments
and peoples everywhere to listen, look and face the
world’s most pressing problems.”
– “Our goals for this conference, to strengthen families
and societies by empowering women to take greater
control over their own destinies.”
SOAPSTone- Subject
• To fight for equality and recognition of
women’s rights also being human rights
– “We also must recognize that women will never
gain full dignity until their human rights are
respected and protected.”
– “The voices of this conference and of the women
at Hairou must be heard loud and clear.”
SOAPSTone- Tone
• The tone used is simply calm, very persuasive, and
emphasized every key point
• There were lots of times throughout the
deliverance of her speech that the attendees
cheered and slightly threw her off track, yet she
composed herself and still continued.
– “…cannot be fully achieved unless all governments--here and around the world--- accept their responsibility
to protect and promote internationally recognized
human rights.”
Ethos/Persona
• Has automatic ethos
• First Lady of US
• Identifies herself a few times throughout the
speech with her nationality to explain how she
sees these daily struggles herself
– “As an American, I want to speak up for women in my
own country—women who are raising children on the
minimum wage, women who can’t afford health care or
child care,…”
Pathos
• Uses pathos numerous times to appeal to
everyone in the audience who are already majorly
in favor of equality for women and the
recognition of their basic rights
– “Women are the primary caretakers for most of the
world’s children and elderly. Yet much of the work we
do is not valued.”
– “Women are also dying from diseases that should
have been prevented or treated;”
– “We have also been reminded, in V-J Day observances
last weekend, of the good that comes when men and
women join together to combat the forces of tyranny.”
Logos
• Clinton uses logos to state facts to fortify her
arguments and validate them
– “Women comprise more than half the world’s
population. Women are 70 percent of the world’s
poor, and two-thirds of those who are not taught
to read and write.”
– “It is a violation of human rights when a leading
cause of death worldwide among women ages 14
to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their
own homes.
Anaphora
• There are several instances in which this device is
used by Clinton to emphasis the depth of her
speech.
– “It is a violation of human rights when babies are
denied food, or drowned, or suffocated… It is a
violation of human rights when women and girls are
sold into the slavery of prostitution…It is a violation of
human rights when women are doused with gasoline,
set on fire and burned to death…It is a violation of
human rights when individual women are raped in
their own communities…”
Euphemism
• Although she does bluntly state some harsh
truths here and there, she does use a softer
approach when making her points
– “Tragically, women are most often the ones whose
human rights are violated.”
– “It was one of America’s most divisive
philosophical wars. But it was also a bloodless war.
Suffrage was achieved without a shot fired.
Paradox
• She often states several comments that may
seem absurd to us, but is the truth that
everyone still faces today
– “But we have not solved older, deeply rooted
problems that continue to diminish the potential
of half the world’s population.”
– “Freedom means the right of people to assemble,
organize, and debate openly. It means respecting
the views of those who may disagree with the
views of their governments.”
Citations
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXM4E23
Efvk
• http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/women.html
• http://www.biography.com/people/hillaryclinton-9251306#synopsis