Friday, March 3, 2017
Ethos in "I'm a Feminist" by Emma Watson
Ethos are very important in a speech. In order to get the audience to listen to the speaker and take their message into consideration, the speaker must have credibility and needs to establish this credibility through out the speech. Emma Watson establishes her ethos at many points throughout her speech. First, when she says, "I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized..." she establishes some credibility with the fact that she is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and that she has spoken about feminism several times before. Watson is one of the key people in the HeForShe campaign. Another way Watson establishes ethos is through her personal experiences with gender inequality. When she was eight she was called "bossy" for wanting to direct a play while the boys were not. She also talks about her female friends who "started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn't want to appear 'muscly'" and her male friends who "were unable to express their feelings. As a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and a feminist who has experienced sexism since the age of eight, Watson is able to establish valid ethos and make a stronger impact through her speech.
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I completely agree with your analysis above, but it is also important to note that Emma Watson is first and foremost known as a famous child actress. This reputation could also add (or diminish) her effect on the speech's ethos. Are people more or less likely to listen to a woman who grew up in the spotlight? Who was a public figure from a tender age? Who has millions of fans worldwide?
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