Women’s Rights are Human Rights: A Rhetorical Analysis - by Summer Lee

Once, when I was playing in a jazz band, I overheard the saxophonists talking to each other about the double bass, my instrument. They had a question about its tuning. Guess who they decided to ask - the drummer! Despite the fact that I’m the bassist and standing right next to them, they didn’t seem to think that I could answer their question. The drummer, like them, was a guy. I was, in fact, the only female in that jazz ensemble. Ask any women today if she has experienced some form of gender discrimination, and chances are she’ll say yes. Women’s rights is an issue that still persists to this day. However, this issue has made great progress partly due to a revolutionary speech made by the forty-second First Lady of the United States. In 1995, Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a speech entitled “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women. This speech addressed the worldwide issue of the violation of women and their rights. She stated in her speech that there were many who were skeptical as to why women’s rights were so important. Even in Beijing, China, the place where this conference was held, her speech was censored to the people in that country because of their one-child policy. Since there were so many people who didn’t fully agree with these statements, it was even more necessary that those who did listen to the speech would understand its relevance. In order to get her message across and persuade her audience, Clinton used various elements of persuasion, such as ethos, logos, and pathos, to clearly emphasize the importance of women’s rights as human rights.

Hillary Clinton established herself as a credible speaker for women’s rights despite having an audience of 1,500 delegates from different countries and cultures (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). One of the ways she related to such a diverse audience was by listing some of the various roles all women, including herself, have in common, such as being “mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, learners, workers, citizens and leaders” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). She also tied in the various activities that women from different parts of the world are engaged in, such as “washing clothes in a river, or taking a break at the office water cooler” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). She further elaborated, “… we come together and talk about our aspirations and concerns. And time and again, our talk turns to our children and our families” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). Clinton connected and related with the diverse group of delegates by emphasizing that although the women in the audience were from a vast spectrum of cultures, their common focus on children and families was a unifying thread. This unity led into her reiterating the purpose of the conference: to advocate for women’s rights. Fundamentally, the greatest uniting factor among the delegates was the desire to change the way women were treated in society worldwide. As Clinton stated, “we are here to find common ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”).

In today’s world, the topic of women’s rights is hardly controversial. Sadly, however, it was a different story back in 1995. During that time period, the idea of a conference on women’s rights was viewed with skepticism. In her article reflecting about this speech, Clinton stated that many in America questioned the importance of the UN conference and believed it to be pointless. She mentioned that even Congress at the time had looked down on the idea of an international meeting to address women’s rights (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). Furthermore, she explained that US Senator Phil Gramm had stated that the conference was “shaping up as an unsanctioned festival of anti-family, anti-American sentiment” (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). The strong negative sentiment on her role in this conference made Clinton question it herself. In her reflection, she wrote that she was worried about the consequences if things went wrong. Nevertheless, she kept pushing forward to be a speaker at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women. At the conference, she acknowledged that although people may be skeptical, there are still problems women suffer worldwide. To emphasize the importance of such conferences, she mentioned, “Wasn’t it after the women's conference in Nairobi ten years ago that the world focused for the first time on the crisis of domestic violence?” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). She then listed various organizations in which she had participated to improve the lives of women worldwide, such as the WHO forum. In addition to the forums, Clinton had spoken to women citizens around the world and learned about their struggles such as the new mothers in Indonesia discussing family planning and baby care or the women in South Africa struggling to end apartheid (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). These facts supported her point on the importance of women’s issues being pushed to the forefront and established her as someone knowledgeable and active with women’s rights issues.

Throughout her speech, Clinton presented logical arguments regarding the importance of women’s role in society as a concrete way to persuade the audience, both men and women. Most women can understand the importance of women’s rights mainly because they go through some form of gender discrimination in their lives. However, because they don’t directly experience these injustices, some men don’t understand the reason why they should take part in the fight for women’s rights. For this reason, especially during the time of this speech, most male politicians didn’t actively make laws or put policies in place that benefited women. Understanding this sentiment, she stated in her speech that, “if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish…when families flourish, communities, and nations will flourish” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). Following the same logic, she later explained, “If we take bold steps to better the lives of women, [then] we will be taking bold steps to better the lives of children and families too” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). By connecting how the advancement of women rights also advances society, she showed the audience that not only women, but every person is a stakeholder in this mission.

To illustrate how severely the rights of women were violated, Clinton provided statistics to raise awareness of these injustices. For example, she stated that, “Women comprise more than half the world's population. Women are 70 percent of the world's poor, and two-thirds of those who are not taught to read and write” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). Continuing, she explained that even though women are the main caretakers for children and seniors, this important role is not valued by economists, historians, or politicians (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). Furthermore, she listed the various types of mistreatment women experience: “[Women] are dying from diseases that should have been prevented or treated; they are watching their children succumb to malnutrition caused by poverty and economic deprivation; they are being denied the right to go to school by their own fathers and brothers; they are being forced into prostitution, and they are being barred from the ballot box and the bank lending office”(Clinton, “Women's Rights”). Once again, she used evidence from around the globe to not only demonstrate the violation of rights suffered by them, but to unify the diverse group of women.

Ultimately, speeches that have the most impact on audience members are the ones that appeal to their emotions. Clinton did an impressive job of accomplishing this feat, starting when she first said, “It is a violation of human rights…” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). Those who have watched Clinton give speeches know that her delivery of this speech was different. In previous speeches, she spoke calmly and naturally. In this speech, however, she seemed nervous and tense. In her reflection, Clinton addressed this issue and recalled that although she is normally comfortable giving speeches, “a lot was riding on this one, and I had a genuine case of nerves as I took the stage” (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). Furthermore, she stated that she didn’t want to present herself as overly passionate, as “Women are often criticized if we show too much emotion in public” (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). Ironically, this bias sentiment is an example of women inequality, as well as limiting Clinton’s ability to persuade her audience. In a speech, a speaker can add certain elements that appeal to people's emotions, such as enunciation, intonation, and pauses. Doing this emphasizes certain words or sentences that help strengthen the main message. Since Clinton was so tense at the beginning of her speech, she didn’t use any of these elements at the start. As a result, her audience simply stared back at her with blank expressions (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). However, this all changed when she began the section with, “It is a violation of human rights…” Here, she finally began to appear more comfortable and express some emotion. As she repeated this phrase over and over again, the audience responded with profuse applause after every new line (Clintonlibrary42). Clinton’s now visible passion was what invoked the audience to become more attentive to her speech.

From here, Clinton continued to appeal to the audience’s emotions with the most successful line in her speech: “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, it is that human rights are women's rights.... And women's rights are human rights” (Clinton, “Women's Rights”). This one line received a tremendous applause from the audience after being spoken (Clintonlibrary42). After she had finished her speech, the delegates cheered and gave a standing ovation, which was considered “a rarity at buttoned-up UN gatherings” (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). Clinton recalled that after she had walked out of the hall, the women outside were tearfully finding ways to shake her hand (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). She attributed this behavior as a result of that line, which despite being a simple truth created “shock waves” (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). Ever since that quote first made its debut, it has repeatedly appeared on various items such as shirts, posters, and pillows. In addition, the quote was the inspiration for an organization called The Platform of Action where delegates from 189 nations reinforced, “the full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social, and cultural life” (Clinton, “Power Shortage”). The impact this one quote had worldwide on the path for women’s rights is incredible and galvanizing. Clinton’s spectacular and moving delivery of this message was what transformed the audience’s apathy into empathy.

An experienced speaker or writer understands the pertinence and value of ethos, logos, and pathos to produce a compelling argument. As First Lady, Hillary Clinton’s speech at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women illustrated the power and effectiveness of these rhetorical elements. Her persuasion was not only accomplished by the words she read, but also by the way she delivered her speech. Unfortunately, the bias and patronization of women by their male colleagues is still a persistent issue today. Nevertheless, this moving speech finally pushed the issue of women’s rights to the forefront globally. By masterfully fusing ethos, logos, and pathos, Clinton created a speech effective in reaching her ultimate goal: exposing the importance of women’s rights as human rights.

Works Cited

Clinton, Hillary Rodham. “Power Shortage.” Atlantic, vol. 326, no. 3, Oct. 2020, pp. 17–21.

Clinton, Hillary Rodham. “Women's Rights Are Human Rights.” D2L - Pima Community College, https://d2l.pima.edu/d2l/le/content/580991/viewContent/6208445/View.

Clintonlibrary42, director. YouTube, YouTube, 13 Apr. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXM4E23Efvk. Accessed 20 Oct. 2022.