Emma Watson uses the logos appeal in
several instances throughout her speech. At the very beginning of the speech,
she addresses the audience and tells them that the assumption that feminism has
to do with “man-hating” is totally wrong. She debunks this belief by providing
the audience with the book definition of what feminism means. She notes, “Feminism
by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and
opportunities.” That is an effective means of logos because she proved that the
protesters of the movement were logically wrong because their belief of
feminism did not match what feminism actually is.
Another
example of her use of logos is when she referred to Hillary Clinton’s 1997 “Women
Rights are Human Rights” speech. Watson says that “the things she [Clinton]
wanted to change are still true today.” She
knows that some people in the audience might not think the movement is necessary anymore
as she even points out that the word feminism is losing popularity. But stating that since 1997 not much has been done for progress, she appeals to
the audience’s reasoning to support the movement today as the audience realizes that there is still work
to be done to reach gender equality.
In
addition, she provides statistics to make some of her most important arguments.
As we know, statistics are linked to logos, so her use of them functions as a
logical appeal. As Goodwill Ambassador for UN women, she knows and has done her
research about problems affecting women. So she states, “At current rates, 5.5
million girls will be married in 16 years as children and it won’t be until
2086 before all little African girls have a secondary education.” This also appeals
to the audience’s logical thoughts and reasoning as they might realize that if
more people do not join the movement to fight against these issues, then little
or no progress will be made in the next few decades.
It's interesting that you tied these examples to logos. I think Watson is also appealing to the audience's pathos by talking about the girls who will be married as children and won't have access to a secondary education.
ReplyDeleteI think that using logos to debunk other arguments is a much more powerful use of the rhetoric device. Giving a logical argument about a certain topic is one thing, but also proving how another viewpoint is wrong makes a much stronger argument, and Emma Watson does a great job with this.
ReplyDeleteI like all the instances of logos you have pointed out such as the Hillary Clinton speech and statistics. Logos very prevalent within this speech, which shows the importance of logos when trying to capture an audience. Her use of logos allows the audience to not only be moved by what she says, but also believe it comfortably.
ReplyDeleteI think that, in the instances you pointed out, Emma Watson was definitely using an appeal to logos to highlight the immense disparities created by gender inequality. However, at the same time, I also believe that these could be considered an appeal to pathos because I think that Watson intentionally used these appeals to illicit an emotional reaction from her listeners that would provoke them to want to make a change.
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