Rhetorical Analysis Of Hillary Clinton Speech On Women's Rights

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Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered her speech “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” September 5, 1995 while speaking at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China with the intent to educate and spread awareness in regards to the rights and treatment of women around the world, while encouraging women to take initiative and highlight the potential women have if presented with the opportunity of equality. Early in Clinton’s speech, she uses the power of ethos to establish her credibility and continues to build upon it throughout, bringing attention to the fact she has had years of experience fighting for change among people of all kinds. Clinton convinces listeners that she has made women’s rights a priority in her life …show more content…

Successful in her mission to educate and spread awareness in Beijing and all across the world, Clinton’s speech led to “Beijing [legitimizing women’s rights] and [galvanizing] media attention to the issue” (Worden 35) which ultimately “energized the feminist movement and connected it more to the global human rights movement as well as the United Nations and governments” (Worden 36). In Clinton’s speech, she did not strive to make women feel sorry for themselves, but to show that women can overcome the hardships they face and the level of potential change has if women take initiative. Though progress has been made, the steps ahead add up to more than a mile. A survey taken from Penn. Schoen. and Berland Associates from November of 2008, states that the majority of people in the United States view the treatment of women at home as equal to men, whereas in the press, workplace, political settings, or the armed forces, treatment does not remain equivalent in treatment (Scherer 26). Progress has made steady yet gradual milestones towards the goal regarding women’s rights, but when it comes to the question of when dramatic change should take place, “the time is now”