The Pathos in "I’m A Feminist" Speech by Emma Watson

           Emma Watson successfully persuaded her audience with an emotional appeal through her moving anecdotes, impassioned tone, and precise diction. Watson attempted to draw empathy from the audience, so that they could understand why she is a feminist. She did this by remarking on personal stories that led her to support the feminist movement. She said that when she was eight, she’d be called “bossy” at school for being a responsible leader. As a teenager, she then felt “sexualized by the media.” And when she became a young woman, she noticed that her male friends wouldn’t express their feelings. This is an effective strategy because it makes her audience think about what it might have been like for her to grow up in that kind of environment where everyone has to adhere to strict gender norms and kids can’t be what they want to be without being treated differently by society. In the case of her anecdotes, the boys could not cry because they would have been made fun of or looked down upon as not man enough. In her case, she just had to be a girl to feel sexualized and if she wanted to be a strong girl, she’d be called names. The narration of these experiences also touched her audience to be empathetic with her because they would not want their kids to feel the same way she did growing up. Her speech was directed at a general audience, but the specific audience present during the deliverance of the speech were adults who were part of the United States. So it if safe to assume that several of them might have children.
          The pace of her speech was very slow and it sounded like she was emotional about what she was talking about. Her heartfelt remarks included her talking about little girls in Africa who don’t get an education and underage girls who will be forced to get married in some places around the world. Her “impassioned” tone helped her audience understand that she wasn’t doing that just for her, but she was speaking up for all those girls and women --who face inequalities and injustices around the world-- that she cares about.  
          Watson also used very precise diction which helped get her an empathetic reaction from the audience. She uses words that are often associated with the movement. An example of how precise her language was is when she provided her audience with an exact book definition of what feminism means. That makes it clear for the audience that feminism does not equal “men-hating.” When she talked about guys not being able to show their feelings, she asked the audience to let their sons be “humans.” When she invited men to join the movement, she referred to it as the “struggle.” She also incentivizes men to join the movement by saying they can save their “daughters, sisters and mothers from prejudice.” Many of the terms that she used throughout the speech were related to the rhetoric of feminism and that helped her get some emotional reaction and understanding from her audience.


Justin Trudeau joins the movement https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/16/i-am-a-feminist-trudeau-tells-un-crowd.html