A Rhetorical Analysis of Hillary Clinton Speech on Women`s Rights

 A Rhetorical Analysis of Hillary Clinton Speech on Women`s Rights

Hillary Clinton, a candidate for the Democratic nomination, an American lawyer, a Senator for New York State and Secretary of the states for foreign policy, delivered many speeches at different times of her life, while occupying sensitive, important, and prominent positions in the political context of the states. She gave a speech in the conference of the “U.N. 4th World Conference on Women Plenary Session”. 

According to a research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas A&M University by the  American public address, Hillary Clinton’s speech on Women’s rights at United Nations World Conference is ranked 35 among the "Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th century". In her speech, Hillary Clinton talk about the inequality and violence women face all over the world. Her main purpose of the speech is to make the world realize that women’s rights are part of human rights. To achieve her purpose of the speech, Clinton uses many rhetorical techniques and devices: logos, pathos, and ethos. For example, Clinton starts her speech with pathos by by thanking General Secretary Gretrude Mangola. She supports her points through such rhetorical strategies. Her using rhetoric, grabbed the attention of her audience, which in turn helped her achieve her purpose. 

“Earlier today, I participated in a World Health Organization forum. In that forum, we talked about ways that government officials, NGOs, and individual citizens are working to address the health problems of women and girls.”, Hillary said. With ethos use, she highlights her participation in another prominent, important conference in order to give credibility to her speech and to make her audience realize and understand her trustable words. By this, she shows that she has gone through enough experience to know about women’s and girls’ conditions and that her working with such organizations makes her learn more about women’s problems as well. Then, she gives another plus to the credibility of her speech by mentioning her “tomorrow’s schedule”, where she is going to attend a fund gathering program to improve the lives of women. 

Logos, where Clinton says: “I have met new mothers in Indonesia, who come together regularly in their village to discuss nutrition, family planning, and baby care,” she continues “I have met with the leading women of my own hemisphere who are working every day to promote literacy and better health care for children in their countries. I have met women in India and Bangladesh who are taking out small loans to buy milk cows, or rickshaws, or thread in order to create a livelihood for themselves and their families.”, she is addressing authentic stories and facts about women’s conditions. 

Clinton talks about women’s contribution and activities in society. The main point she focuses on persuading her audience that human rights are women’s rights, and vice versa, women’s rights are human rights. They both are interrelated. 

She knows for sure that her audience is from different varieties and from all over the world, so she can deliver her speech to as many people as possible. Beforehand, she brings up a question: “There are some who question the reason for this conference. Let them listen to the voices of women in their homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces. There are some who wonder whether the lives of women and girls matter to economic and political progress around the globe.” By raising such question, she aims to give clear responses to those questioning the role of women in economy. She explains the importance of her speech to make the audience aware of each and every word she is addressing in her speech in the conference.

“It is a violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war”, she mentions. Using pathos is another appeal of Clinton’s speech. She is sympathizing with women by saying how these injustices have touched her heart. This use of emotive words is another way of making her speech powerful, heart touching, and attractive. 

In conclusion, and from a linguistic perspective, Clinton is undoubtedly a skilled speaker and leader. With her charismatic capability of capturing the attention of her audience where she generates controversial topics and mixed feeling. She puts her words into real life actions, as she supports and works on many proposals that advocate the rights of children and women and healthcare for the American people. Her activities are never limited within the limits of the states, but rather exceeds all borders and places of the globe.

Bailasan Zaina