Analysis Of Bella Abzug's Speech

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Bella Abzug gave many speeches during her lifetime. She maintains a very dominating tone. She knows what she wants, how she wants it to happen and is very direct in letting the audience know. There is always some problem she is trying to solve and some movement she is trying to form. When she speaks, especially during her time as a part of the U.N., Abzug uses “we” often to show that there are others who want the same things as her and to include the audience as a part of the movement. Abzug seems to constantly be talking about activism for human rights, especially women’s rights. She makes statements that she will relate to herself and other people, usually women, who also may relate to what she said. She does this often in vague ways; she …show more content…

When examining it, the key characteristics to look for in masculine style is the use of formal evidence, deductive structure, abstract reasoning, dominating tone and orientation toward problem-solving (Dow and Boor Tonn 288). The feminine style is more personal in that it builds connections between speaker and audience, discloses personal experiences of the speaker and women in general and is inclusive to many groups (Campbell, Dow and Boor Tonn, Blankenship and Robson). Further, they describe the encouragement of empowerment especially for women that is found in this style. Because these styles use the term masculine and feminine does not mean that they are completely gendered and that either gender is limited to either one style. These terms are used as ways to categorize traditionally which gender used which style and the ways that these genders could typically get the attention of the audience. For example, the audience, depending on who the audience is, could be offended if a female was using masculine style, because, with the double standards that women were/are held to, they would come off as bossy which is seen as less feminine and would be less favorable to an audience who expects women to be mothers and wives and stay in the private