Critical Analysis: Shirley Chisholm Speech Equal Rights for Women In her famous speech “Equal Rights for Women,” addressed to The United States House of Representatives in Washington D.C, May 21, 1969, Chisholm addresses the assumption about women in society being treated unfair. She expresses how women are viewed in society and the prejudice against women that’s being accepted daily and sought out to secure equal rights for women by introducing a proposal “that has been before every Congress for the last 40 years and that will sooner or later must become part of the basic law of the land..”(1), as the Equal Rights Amendment. In her speech she not only expresses and highlights how women are viewed differently in many aspects of life but she refutes common arguments and shows how gender discrimination is harmful for both men and women in society. Early in her speech, Chisholm relied on her personal experience to persuade her case for Equal Rights. Chisholm stated, “Prejudice as a black person is becoming unacceptable...” (1) While she then states “Prejudice against women is acceptable” (1).
Society and pop culture is continuously changing, why shouldn’t the feminist movement do the same? Quindlen touches on the topic of college life for women within Duke University. Despite Duke being an exceptional college, women still find that being attractive to males is significantly more important than their education. This is an interesting study considering media claims that we are in a post-feminism era with no need for feminism anymore. Yet we see media encouraging the notion that you must be beautiful not smart to find a significant other.
For Women in America, Equality is Still an Illusion In her article, "For Women in America, Equality is Still an Illusion", Jessica Valenti subject matter is to describe the discrepancies between what is perceived as gender equality to what is really occurring in America in hopes of ending the mistreatment and injustices of women. Valenti writes this essay in hopes of disillusioning women that believe they have the same equal rights and treatments that men have in America. She conveys a certain emotionally upset tone in her work (mainly due to her being a woman) to grab the reader's attention. She uses selection of detail to show the hardships of women not only in America, but in other countries as well. Valenti provides many statistics of abuse against women here in the United States as well as examples of evidence for the mistreatment of women.
Due to the limited amount of resources and the restrictions laid upon women for practicing rhetoric, it is astonishing how many women were still able to make a significant impact on the field of rhetoric which I feel has paved the way for women’s liberations rights today. Christine de Pizan portrayed the art of rhetoric through language and letter writing as she challenged the boundaries of women’s input at the time. She sought to save the reputation of women, who at the time were being slandered and shine a new spotlight for women’s advancement. It is imperative that more time and space be dedicated to Christine De Pizan in Herricks textbook of rhetoric and many more to follow. Christine De Pizan is a brave woman who stood up to the verbal assaults on women in the 14th century.
Many debates have happened whether or not these women approach feminism for their time period. The answer to that is ambiguous and depends on how the reader takes in their writings. One can say that even though Wollstonecraft is so obviously pining for co-education, and in that way to be equal to men, she is not promoting equality for anything else. By not wanting to be equal in anything else, how can she be approaching feminism? Pizan so obviously from the start of her writing, introduces how women should behave (from the perspective of a princess), so that her actions shall be beneficial to her and her husband.
McKenna Hastings ASB 102 Trial by Fire In the article, “Trial by Fire,” by J. Malcolm Garcia argues that because of their culture, Afghan women have been put into a state of mind that they are inferior to men in every way; although there are a few women who will fight for their rights of humanity, even though they may receive violent death threats. Garcia provides the following evidence to support their position: provided in the article was the story of three women which showed valuable insight to the way women view themselves in their culture. The research provided was compelling in the way it provided a holistic and graphic view of things that happen to women in that culture. The research gave its reader insight and knowledge of this culture that described the viewpoints of very independent Afghan women, and those women who take the beating and harassment from their male counterparts, and return the pain by inflicting it upon themselves. This research consumes the reader into the article to ensure their understanding of the events taking place in Afghanistan.
Summary of arguments posed. Stylistic Features Tone | Passionate about conditions affecting women | “ Why should a women do all the work in the home?” Voice- created through the word choice, through use of techniques such as emotive language to create a passionate voice also uses modality | | Bold when considering the importance of women | I don’t like what’s implied in the suggestion that women will have to he forced back into the home…Let her be free to choose…the contribution that women can make to public life through the professions or in industry is important.Voice- is bold. High modality words creates a bold voice, powerful words. | | Conversational/colloquial in presentation of her viewpoint | “… Back to the kitchen.” Voice- She is trying to be non-threatening by persuading us both men and women. Australian voice comes through with the colloquial words | | Cautionary when considering the failure to make social changes | Aren’t we fighting for liberty, democracy and to eradicate facism and Nazism in every form?If any attempt is made here after the war to force women back to the home, it will be proof that fascism still has strong roots in AustraliaIt would be inexcusable in the future to condemn people to live under the conditions so many endured before the war.Voice- Cautioning Australian society to illude what is happening in Germany, she is trying to say we don’t want this happening in our country.
Brinley Bruton, Staff Writer. This article also supports women in combat arms giving examples from other militaries and how they are constructed and how we should better our military by replicated their procedures. Though are we not a World Super Power should we not be the standard-bearers for military discipline and structure. It also should be known that by giving excuses to why women will or should not be allowed in combat arms is keeping this incorrigible proposition in place. Through media now Soldiers in Combat arms units will likely receive females differently because of how it has been portrayed, due to how they are supposed to respond instead of how they really feel.
What does it mean to be a woman? Where does it all originate? Prior to the 18th century women had no equality they had to combat social and cultural inequalities .Soon after feminism started to take root and in today’s world women see themselves on par with men. However they still identify themselves by the role they fulfil. If you ask a woman the question “who are you?’ immediately the response would be mother, sister, wife, grandmother or they give their professional title.
Name: Isabella Lorduy Ariza Rationale The following text is a speech written by myself from the perspective of a Pakistani girl called Malala Yousafzai, who has suffered from discrimination and prejudice against women regarding the right of education, which is extremely important for me, since it is the base of wisdom and knowledge. It is directly linked to the course since it talks about the important role, which women represent, and the importance of equality in a society that has not been able to overcome an old and parochial point of view in which men are the only central figure. By writing this speech I wanted to explore a new point of view, in which I could actually feel what other individuals are suffering through women prejudice. The purpose of this article is to inform the readers about the massive impact which this problem has caused and apply this fact to real life situations. It is specifically directed to a young female audience, with the purpose of creating consciousness and awareness to these girls and showing them that no matter their age or their gender, there is always a way to fight for rights and equality.