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Annabelle Doud

Professor Warwick

WRIT 105R

26 April 2023

Neo-Aristotelian Criticism:

Emma Watson Reframing Feminism

In 2014, Emma Watson, the appointed goodwill ambassador for UN Women, spoke in

front of the entire United Nations to introduce the newly established HeforShe campaign. The

speech’s main focus is centered around this campaign, which carries a connotation of action and

togetherness. As the campaign is the focus of the speech, Watson’s message and intention behind

the speech becomes action and togetherness. The intention is to not only change the mindset that

the feminist issue is only a women’s issue, but also to get everyone, both men and women, to

start taking action to solve this inequality crisis. Throughout her speech, Emma Watson draws on

the logic of the immediacy and necessity of action that the equality movement demands. She

does this by providing a network of proof for why this issue is so important and impactful, with

statistics, personal experiences, and her personal delivery of the situation. She does this in

conjunction with setting up a foundation of trust and credibility of her character which allows the

audience to trust the proof she has provided. This ensures that the audience not only considers

her side of the argument, but takes it a step further and takes action. By the end of the speech, the

audience’s mood, mind, and behavior have all been influenced.

Invention
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Invention is the intention behind the speech (Warwick). What is the goal of speaking to

this audience? This includes both the overall reason for the speech and the way the speaker

conveys this reason to the audience. Emma Watson’s intention behind the speech is action, and

she directly states this at the very start of the speech: “We need your help. We want to end gender

inequality and to do this we need everyone involved” (Watson). She is setting up the need for

action as a result of the speech by using action words like “help” and “involved,” and is letting

the audience know that the expected result of her speech is their involvement. Here, Watson is

setting up an audience goal of getting them to act (Warwick). She has an intention of a behavior

change, which requires a change in mood and mind as well.

Watson spends a lot of her speech establishing a strong ethos, which allows her audience

to respond to her argument in the way that she intended. Her strong ethos essentially alters the

mood of the audience and primes them to react the way she wants. This ethos is built upon her

credibility and the trust the audience has in her and her message. From the start of her speech,

Watson is establishing her credibility by referencing her credentials for being the speaker and

being present at the event: “I was appointed as goodwill ambassador for U.N. Women six months

ago” (Watson). This is a very formal way to establish credibility. Watson also establishes a more

intimate credibility through her use of personal stories. She relives parts of her life where she had

experienced gender inequality firsthand. This firsthand account gives her credibility on the

subject of gender inequality and allows the audience to trust her argument regarding it. She

builds on this initial trust with her wide knowledge of the topic that reaches beyond just personal

experience. When she mentions the Hillary Clinton speech in Beijing, the suidice statistics, or

the 15.5 million child brides, she is building her credibility on the subject of gender inequality,

which is essential to get the audience to react appropriately to the speech.

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Then, to change the audience’s mind, Watson employs reframing (Warwick). Most

notably, Watson does this with her redefining of “feminism”. She is refusing the association of

feminism with “man hating”, and instead provides a clear definition of what her argument would

support as feminism: “I have realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become

synonymous with man hating. If there is one thing I know for certain it is that this has to stop.

For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights

and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes”

(Watson). She is reframing how feminism is seen in the audience’s mind, and attempting to alter

the values of those listening to her speech. She uses reframing again to change the image of

men’s role in this issue of inequality. She touches on her father’s role as a parent “being valued

less by society” and men’s issues with mental illness as a result of societal expectations, but

refuses to accept that as the truth, and so she reframes how men are involved in the inequality

movement. She denies the fact that it is a women’s only issue by providing personal and

statistical proof for how entangled both genders are with the issue of inequality: “Gender

equality is your issue too.” And with this, Watson is able to make her main point clear, that

action is needed not just from women, but from everyone.

Arrangement

Arrangement is the way that a speech is structured, and includes exordium, narration,

partition, confirmation, refutation, and peroration (Warwick). Exordium introduces the speech

and narration provides the background for the main argument. Partition then singles out what the

main argument is, and confirmation supports this argument. Refutation considers possible

objections, and then peroration concludes everything. Within her speech, Watson follows this

outline almost exactly, and is able to create a strong argument because of it.
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In her introduction, Watson is very transparent with her desired message and overall goal

of the speech. She comes right out and establishes that her intent is “to end gender inequality…

and to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change” and she

adds on that they “don't just want to talk about it” (Watson). This tactic at the beginning of the

speech ensures that the audience can clearly see what is expected of them. She is as

straightforward as possible, and this creates trust between Watson and the audience. It also

allows Watson to keep her speech simple. This simplicity allows for the argument itself to stand

out, rather than an embellished speech.

And, with her goal established, Watson is then able to further build a foundation for her

argument with the use of narration. She provides primarily personal experiences that allow the

audience to fully grasp the effects of gender inequality. Personal details like “When I was 14, I

started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media” and “I think it is right that I should be

able to make decisions about my own body” give a first hand perspective on the effects of this

issue, and serve as a narrative for why things need to change. And, Watson is then able to

transition into her partition, and hone into her main intention: to get men involved in the issue as

well. She clearly states “Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal

invitation. Gender equality is your issue too” (Watson). With this statement, Watson is able to

identify joint action, of both men and women, as the primary goal of the speech, which allows

the audience to recognize what is expected of them. The function of the HeforShe speech is to

get men involved in a movement that was previously thought to be just a women’s issue, but this

can only be done once the real immediate need for help has been displayed. Watson shows this

immediacy through her personal experiences.

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Once she has “formally invited” the men to pull a chair up to this issue, she backs this

statement with even more logic and support. She plays into issues that cater to the redefined

feminist movement, that includes men, and establishes the other side of the inequality. Fathers’

parental role, men’s mental health, the dynamics of aggression and submission, all of these

points Watson brings up provide the other side of the movement that she has stated exists. She is

taking the argument that both women and men need to act towards ending inequality by

supporting the fact that men are just as much involved in it as women are.

Watson’s refutation is brief— “Who is this ‘Harry Potter’ girl?” —but provides space for

the audience to absorb the argument that has been presented, while at the same time reinstating

Watson’s credibility. This part of the speech shows her humility and humanity, as it shows that

she is not just aware of her possible lack of credibility, but she is also able to laugh at herself.

This characterization of herself makes the entire argument more accessible; by making herself

more human, the action she is expecting seems more doable. Watson finally closes the speech by

mentioning the campaign formally: “We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news is

that we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward to be

seen and to ask yourself, if not me, who? If not now, when?” (Watson). She has clearly stated the

intention behind and expectation from the speech once again, and paired with strong stating of

her argument throughout the speech, followed by supportive narration, her argument remains

strong by the end of speech, and her desire to get people involved in the movement has been

comprehensively been communicated.

Style

Throughout her speech, Watson keeps a balance between ornament, clarity, and vividness

(Warwick). These are all part of the style Watson is utilizing. Her style is the way she speaks and
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the way she chooses to present her message through words (Warwick). Ornament, the aesthetic

of the speech, clarity, a lack of ambiguity, and vividness, an ability to present reality accurately,

are all valued by Watson in her speech (Warwick). The context behind the speech already

requires a degree of formality, but beyond that, the topic of the speech is particularly sensitive

and serious. Because of this, it is beneficial that Watson delivers the speech rather gently. She

maintains a slow and consistent tone, ensuring that the speech is clear. This allows the content of

the speech to stand on its own. Without the emotion in her style of delivery, the emotion of the

message is what is most prominent. The times when Watson does choose to utilize vivid

language, it is always in reference to her personal experiences. This does not take away from the

message, but instead is necessary to provide personal evidence for why ending gender inequality

is so important.

Memory

Memory has to do with the way the speaker stores and retrieves information relevant to

both the speech and the audience (Warwick). Watson primarily shows this with her personal

accounts of inequality. Providing a narration of her own experiences creates a sense of

immediacy of action, as she is proving how real the issue of inequality is, while also supporting

the claims she is making. She is able to draw on these personal experiences based on her memory

of them, but she is also able to recognize that these experiences are not only relevant to the

message of her speech, but help support her argument regarding the demand of action. Watson

also calls on a collective memory when she mentions the Hillary speech, for example: “In 1997,

Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women's rights. Sadly, many of the

things that she wanted to change are still true today, but what stood out for me the most was that

less than 30 percent of the audience were male” (Watson). Watson is able to spark the audience’s
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memory of the event, which comes along with its own connotations in each individual’s mind.

She was able to call on communal memory that would be relevant to an audience of politically

evolved and educated class of people, but that also is highly relevant to her argument of

inequality. And on top of that, this reference of Hillary connects Watson’s message to preexisting

thoughts on feminism in the mind of the audience, which helps reform these mindsets.

Delivery

Delivery is the way the speaker acts out the speech, involving voice, rhythm, and body

language (Warwick). While Emma Watson delivers this speech, she remains calm and consistent.

She is projecting well, while still modulating her volume. This form of delivery ensures that she

keeps an image of respect, credibility, and preparedness. It also plays into the serious nature of

the topic of the speech. She is also able to deliver the speech without the heavy reliance of cue

cards. She presents herself as prepared and credible, but also sincere. This sincerity makes the

goal of the speech more accessible as well. On top of this, Watson is able to respond

appropriately to applause and laughter. This aids her in her goal of the speech, showing that she

is there for the audience, making the audience more susceptible to not just hearing, but reacting

to her argument.

Emma Watson’s HeforShe speech exemplifies the use of both vividness and clarity to

first paint a picture of the demand of action behind the gender inequality movement, and then to

display clearly what needs to be done. Watson’s personal experiences, along with statistical

references, allow her to form an image of why action needs to be taken. This compliments her

straightforward assertion of what exactly the HeforShe campaign is asking: active involvement

from both women and men to end gender inequality. In order to support her assertion, Watson
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redefined what the feminist movement meant in the lens of this campaign. By dissociating the

cause from “man hating” and cementing it to freedom and equality for both men and women,

Watson was able to reframe the argument, and establish that this unified fight against these

inequalities is an action that needs to be taken.

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Works Cited

Warwick, Nicole. “Arrangement Notes.” WRIT 105R, UCSB,

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Efpzfj-hZ486k-no7b2sb3_MdpwNLefgMc1TQoH

xYUs/edit. 17 April 2023. Class Handout

Warwick, Nicole. “Invention/Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Notes.” WRIT 105R, UCSB,

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZKvGpdrYdusJTrRWzU7flQlPQ10XL9Dz-Dx2D

VlXlOo/edit?usp=sharing. 17 April 2023. Class Handout

Warwick, Nicole. “Style, Memory, Delivery Notes.” WRIT 105R, UCSB,

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MQjBoaIxeczMERh1xtMIkwJap0HjdCXokVjVgE

3gLEg/edit?usp=sharing. 17 April 2023. Class Handout

Watson, Emma. “HeforShe U.N. Speech.” UN General Assembly, 21 September 2014, UN

General Assembly, New York City, Featured Speaker Presentation.