Spacecat
Answer each question in depth and provide specific evidence from
the text or speaker whenever available. The more you write, the better!
S
SPEAKER:
Who is the speaker/writer?
What do we know about
them? What can you tell or
what do you know about
the speaker that helps you
understand the point of
view expressed?
P
PURPOSE:
What is the speaker/writer
hoping to accomplish?
What is the reason behind
this piece? What do they
want the audience to do
after having listened?
A
AUDIENCE:
Who is the speaker/writer
trying to reach? How do we
know? Do they indicate a
specific audience? What
assumptions exist in the
text about the intended
audience?
C
CONTEXT:
What is the time and place
of this piece? What is
happening in the world as
it relates to the subject of
the speech or the
speaker/writer?
The speaker is Justin Baldoni, who is a Hollywood male actor who has
played traditional male roles, including Rafael from ‘Jane the Virgin’.
Most of the roles he has played have oozed typical male stereotypes,
including strength, confidence, violence, and has often been shirtless in
Hollywood. He does not relate to these roles but says, “I’ve spent my life
pretending to be something I’m not” As a child, the speaker was taught
by his father that being soft, kind, and nurturing was acceptable.
However, being soft meant that Justin was excluded in his small town
full of toxic masculine stereotypes, so he resented it. I can tell that he
has experienced toxic masculinity and feels very strongly about it. He
also has a wife and small children.
The speaker is trying to help men find vulnerability and help women to
find their voices. He wants men to find the strength to both be
vulnerable and share their pain, but also have the strength to truly listen
to women in their lives. He wants the audience to not just listen to his
words, but to formally help women. He says that words are not enough,
and that men need to become the solution and not just words. He wants
more equality between genders as a whole. He says that as men are
part of the solution, words are no longer enough, so he wants mens to
actually do something.
Justin is trying to reach all men everywhere who need help to become
vulnerable. I know because he is interested in helping other people. He
says that ‘Well, I came here today to say, as a man, that
this(stereotypes) is wrong, this is toxic, and it has to end.’ He also talks
about his social media platform and how men only follow him when he
posts things with specific male stereotypes, such as fitness. He then
calls out to the audience specifically in the TED talk audience and asks
where the men are. He wants them to be strong enough, vulnerable or
sensitive, or confident enough to listen to women. He calls for men to
take a stand for women. Finally, he speaks to women and parents
because he wants parents to teach children to become good humans.
He speaks to women because he wants them to forgive men but also to
help them in creating a better world.
Note: the audience at TED was mostly female.
The time and place of this piece are right now, in the modern world.
Right now, in the modern world, girls and boys are taught specific
stereotypes that they have to embrace for their specific stereotype.
There are many things that women and men have to face, such as
violence, and vulnerability. Men find it hard to be vulnerable, while
women have so many issues to face, such as the pay gap or violence.
This speech was given at the TED Women’s conference in November

E
EXIGENCE:
What was the spark or
catalyst that moved the
speaker/writer to
act/write? How did that
event impact the
speaker/writer?
C
CHOICES:
What are the rhetorical
choices that the
speaker/writer makes in
the speech? Think about
overall structure, devices,
diction, syntax, etc.
A
APPEALS:
Which of the three
rhetorical appeals (ethos,
logos, pathos) are present
in the text? Where? Why?
T
TONE:
What is the
speaker/author's attitude
toward the subject? Is the
tone the same throughout
the whole piece? Where
does it shift? What
evidence is there to
2017. At this time, the “Me too” movement was going on, and the ‘locker
room talk’. With the rise of women’s rights, many men were feeling
attacked.
The spark or catalyst that moved him to the right were the stereotypes
that girls and boys face all over the world and prevent them from who
they are. He wants people to find balance from the scripts that have
been written for their specific stereotypes. He wants boys to be able to
have traditionally girl personality types without being completely
rejected. His childhood was full of resentment towards his father for
being ‘soft’ and not ‘masculine’ enough, which then led to a journey of
self-discovery in the acting world and then afterwards with his social
media platform. In the acting world, he discovered that masculinity was
toxic, and then realized that his resentment towards his father was
invalid. After his acting, he woke up and realized that he was tired of
living a role that wasn’t him. He also helped a man on Instagram
propose to his girlfriend after responding to one of his comments.
The choices that Justin uses are that he chooses to share personal
experiences/anecdotes. He shares about his social media platform, his
three day trip with friends where he shared his feelings, his childhood,
acting career, and how he was unintentionally hurting his wife. He
shares all of these things to prove how toxic masculinity can be to men,
women, and children. He uses repetition in how he has many personal
experiences where masculinity norms were toxic. He also uses tone to
show his passion about the topics he is using. He shows his passion,
and seriousness while he directs his audience to continually pay
attention to his message, and then directs his focus to how to help
women in this world. He also uses a lot of humor and talks directly to
the audience, making the speech feel more real and intimate.
Logos is present as he uses statistics from his social media platform to
prove points about men and women following him. Women tended to
follow him when he was authentic and vulnerable, while men followed
him more when he posted about working out and typical ‘male’ posts.
Pathos was used throughout as he appeals to men, women, and
parents to take direct action to teach children to just become good
people instead of fulfilling specific roles. He reaches out for men to
become vulnerable, and advocates to help women break out from under
male privilege. He gives a lot of examples about his wife and kids and
how he has stepped over them and regrets it.
He uses ethos by establishing himself as a credible source of
information because he himself endured toxic masculinity through
growing up in a small town, his acting profession, and his social media
platform.
The speaker is very, very, very passionate about the subject. Whenever
the audience applauds or laughs, he keeps saying, “guys this is
serious!” He even says, “I've got to be honest. I wish that didn't get an
applause. (Laughter) Guys, this is real.” right after he says, “So I had to
ask myself a tough question, am I man enough to just shut the hell up
and listen?” He wants the audience to be as serious about the subject
as he is. The tone shifts when he starts talking about how toxic
masculinity affects women. This shifts when starts becoming really
demonstrate the tone? passionate about how he has hurt the women in his life, and starts
appealing to them, and when he said that last quote. He also says, “We
are men. We're going to mess up. We're going to say the wrong thing.
We're going to be tone-deaf. We're more than likely, probably, going to
offend you. But don't lose hope. We're only here because of you,” It is in
this section that he starts speaking directly to the audience and women
to get people active in his cause. His facial expressions contributed to
his tone and authenticity.