The Middle East feminist revolution 1

A Rhetorical Analysis of “The Middle East feminist revolution”

Shannon Kornegay

University of Texas at El Paso

February 2018
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A Rhetorical Analysis of “The Middle East feminist revolution”

“ Women are not merely joining protests to topple dictators, they are at the center of
demanding social change” ( Wolf 2011). A woman’s work for social change is never done but is
just beginning. Wolf’s purpose for writing this article is to educate and inform people on the
internet about the “Feminist revolution” happening in the Middle East. Covering Lebanon,
Beirut, Tunisia, and Egypt. Author Naomi Wolf begins building her credibility with facts and
statistics, and reputable sources. Wolf wrote the article “The Middle East feminist revolution
and she states “When women change, everything changes- and women in the Muslim world are
changing radically” which argues that women everywhere around the world are changing but in
the Middle East change is happening fast. Throughout the article Wolf uses her rhetorical
appeals by stating facts that pull on your logical, ethical, and emotional feelings. By using all
three appeals I do believe she was very successful in her argument and use of rhetoric.

In her article, to start off Wolf first sets the stage by addressing common
misconceptions about women in the Middle East. Wolf says “Among the most prevalent
Western Stereotypes about Muslim countries are those concerning Muslim women: doe-eyed,
and submissive, exotically silent, gauzy inhabitants of imagined harems, closeted behind rigid
gender roles”. This is one of Wolf’s strongest points because she states not everything is what
you think it is regarding the conception we have of them being non – Middle Easterners. Wolf is
using Pathos to appeal emotion and sympathy for the way we view women in the Middle East.
This statement helps establish how unfair it is for women to be set into this stereotype and
appeals to the readers feeling of anger or frustration of injustice. The fact she is addressing this
common misconception convinces the reader that this is a problem worth discussing.

Adding to her ethos appeals, Wolf uses even more points to strengthen her argument.
She continues saying “Many commentators credited the great numbers of women and children
with the remarkable overall peacefulness of the protesters in the face of grave provocations”.
By saying that it shows the appeals of emotion by bringing to our attention that even though
the women protesters have reasons to be angry and frustrated they are still protesting
peacefully. These facts introduce and support the idea that this is a peaceful protest even
though a lot of women have reasons to not be peaceful. Wolf creates a sympathetic image by
saying further in her article “Bloggers such as Leil Zahra Mortada took grave risks to keep the
world informed daily of the scene in Tahir Square and elsewhere” referring that keeping other
parts of the world in the loop about the progress of the revolution is dangerous and could have
cost her life, furthering the emotional appeal.

Along with strong emotional appeals, Wolf uses strong appeals to logos by using facts
and statistics to further her argument. Wolf states that “Two generations ago, only a small
minority of the daughters of the elite received a university education. Today, women account
for half of the students in Egyptian universities”. These statistics logically support her claim that
it is a pressing and real problem that education is limited to the “elite”. After showing that only
a small minority of girls received a university education she follows up by pointing out that
today women account for half of the students at university. Wolf is effective in her logical
appeal by showing the advancement and impact of the revolution on higher education. Wolf
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shows the facts which are almost impossible to ignore. Wolf further states her point by adding
to the end of the paragraph that “It is far easier to tyrannise a population when half are poorly
educated and trained to be submissive”. By adding that sentence it tops off her point about the
education topic. Furthering her argument about the lack of education for women. By using the
point of education evokes strong feelings of disbelief and inequality, which makes the reader
sympathize with women who aren’t able to get the education they deserve and makes no
logical sense that women aren’t able to get education due to the sole fact of that they are
women.

Another appeal Wolf uses in her article is ethos. Wolf uses strong ethical appeals to
show how women in the Middle East feel towards leadership roles. Wolf begins saying “ -
Women tend to avoid the figurehead status that traditional protest has in the past imposed on
certain activists – almost invariably a hotheaded young man with a megaphone”. In this
sentence Wolf Is using ethos appeals to further her argument that women avoid the leadership
that is usually involved with protests. Wolf is effectively showing her readers of the morals and
ethics of these women about leadership roles in the Middle East. Wolf further goes on about
leadership roles saying “In such contexts- with a stage, a spotlight, and a spokesperson- women
often shy away from the leadership roles”. In that statement Wolf is effectively furthering her
argument that women do not feel comfortable being leaders or having the role of a leader.
Wolf is painting the picture of submissive women not willing to stand up with a “megaphone”
voicing their opinions.

Adding on to those appeals, Wolf next uses the appeals of Ethos and logos. To start off
Wolf begins talking about the “projection of power” by saying “Facebook mimics the way many
women choose to experience social reality, with connections between people just as important
as individual dominance or control, if not more so”. In this statement Wolf is using the appeals
of ethos and logos. She uses ethos by suggesting that the connections between users on
Facebook have no individual dominance or control. The way Wolf uses logos is by stating the
fact that “Facebook mimics the way many women choose to experience social reality” using
connections between people without biased. Wolf continues to add to her argument by stating
“You can be a powerful leader on Facebook by just creating a really big “us”. Or you can stay
the same size, conceptually, as everyone else on your page- you don’t have to assert your
dominance or authority. Wolf is very effective in this statement by using ethos appeals. It is
being said that women feel more inclined to use their voice on Facebook than in the real world
because they have the power to be as loud or as quiet as they please. Wolf is very effective in
regards to ethos by painting the picture that women feel more free online than in real life
which is a huge play on the readers morals.

Continuing further, Wolf’s last paragraphs of her article appeal mostly to logos. Giving
the reader some background, facts, and history of the feminist movement. Wolf said “Just
when France began its rebellion in 1789, Mary Wollstonecraft, who had been caught up in
witnessing it, wrote her manifesto for women’s liberation”. By giving the reader the history of
the feminism movement it shows to the reader that this hasn’t been just a hot topic currently,
it has been a topic since the 1700’s. I believe Wolf used logical appeals effectively making the
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reader understand that this was a problem and it continues to a problem to this day. To add on
to that statement Wolf also states “After they were told in the 1960’s that “the position of
women in this movement is prone”, they generated a “second wave” feminism – a movement
born of women’s new skills and old frustrations”. By bringing to the reader’s attention that this
problem continues in the present, past, and the future is an effective way of using facts from
the past feminism movement and showing how that affects women in the movement today.

Additionally, the last appeals that Wolf uses logical, emotional, and ethical appeals. Wolf
starts off the logical mood by stating “After educated women in America helped fight for the
abolition of slavery, they put female suffrage on the agenda”. Logos is effective in this
statement by showing the reader that female rights had been put on the backburner while the
abolition of slavery was taking place. Wolf is putting the time into context and showing the
reader that female suffrage has been a topic since around the time slavery ended. Lastly, Wolf
finishes off her article stating “And, since feminism is simply a logical extension of democracy,
the Middle East’s despots are facing a situation in which it will be almost impossible to force
these awakened women to stop their fight for freedom – their own and that of their
communities”. This sentence is effective using all of the appeals. There is logic where Wolf talks
about how feminism is a logical extension of democracy showing that women are coming
together to fight for the same cause. Wolf is also effective in ethos and pathos by informing the
reader that it is going to be impossible to stop these women fighting for their freedom and their
communities.

Wolf begins this article using her pathos appeals by stating a few times how dangerous
and risky it is to be fighting for such a controversial topic in a place like the “Middle East”.
Which is effective in making the reader sympathize with these women. Wolf continues her
article by using more logical appeals. She is effective in the way that shows the reader why the
situation is like this based on poor education and the avoidance of leadership. Showing the
reader the reasons behind why these women feel the way they do. Wolf ends her article by
educating the reader about the history of women’s rights. Effectively making the reader
understand that this movement has been affecting women and their rights for decades. Wolf
was very effective with all her appeals and did order them in the right way to be the most
effective and get her points across to the reader.
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References

Citation: Wolf, N. (2011, March 4). The Middle East feminist revolution. Retrieved February
19, 2018, from
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/03/201134111445686926.html