Julia Coelho

ENC3511
October 31, 2014

He For She Campaign
Celebrities are often given the enormous opportunity to advocate a cause that he or she believes
to be an important issue. Most notable for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter
films, Emma Watson was recently asked to give a speech on feminism to launch the He For She
Campaign. As a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and a self-proclaimed feminist, Emma
introduced this issue as a call to action for her male counterparts to join in on the fight for the
equality of the sexes. Instead of raising this issue as solely a female cause, she made several
valid points about how males are also affected by this inequality. In her argument, she used the
rhetoric techniques of Kairos and Exigence to appeal to her audiences emotions.
The terms "kairos" actually comes from Greek Mythology. Kairos was the youngest son of Zeus
and was known as the God of Opportunity. He would bring about what was right or convenient
in the moment. In classic rhetoric, one uses kairos when one is seizing an opportunistic moment
to make his or her argument. Keeping the time and audience in mind, one uses kairos to seize
that moment and take advantage of the audience, the culture, the time, etc. "Kairos is a word
with layers of meaning; most usually, it is defined in terms of its Classical Greek courtroom
nuances: winning an argument requires a deft combination of creating and recognizing the right
time and right place for making the argument in the first place. However, the word has roots in
both weaving (suggesting the creation of an opening) and archery (denoting the seizing of, and
striking forcefully through, an opening)." In the past several years the feminist movement has
skyrocketed to fame especially with the promotion several celebrities like Joseph Gordon-Levitt
and Lena Dunham. Several issues regarding equal pay for the sexes or equal opportunities for the
sexes have been brought up over the past decade which Emma made a point to cover in her
speech. Using all of the arguments made by previous advocates for feminism and using all of the
current misconceptions of what feminism is, Emma was able to successfully use those
controversies to strengthen her speech.
But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women
are choosing not to identify as feminists... Why has the word become such an uncomfortable
one? I am from Britain, and I think it is right I am paid the same as my male counterparts I
think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decisions that will affect
my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men
Along with Kairos, Emma also used the technique of Exigence to further appeal to the emotions
of her audience. In rhetoric, Exigence is an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts
someone to write or speak. It comes from the Latin words exigentia or exigere meaning
"emergency" or "to demand or drive out". When writing an argument or position piece, it's
important to understand why you're writing about a specific topic in the first place. What
prompts a writer to write his or her essay or speech affects how well the message or opinion is
conveyed. Like Kairos, Exigence is also influenced by a culture, time period, and/or
audience. According to Lloyd Blitzer, who popularized the term the term in his rhetorical
studies, Exigence is a slight imperfection, defect, or obstacle that requires immediate attention. It
is a problem in the world that demands change, it demands to be fixed. Feminism as an official
movement didnt begin until the 1960s and has grown exponentially in the past decade. One of
the underlying issues this movement has been the recent reluctance of women or men to call
themselves feminist because of the negative connotations.
I decided that I was a feminist, and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research
has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify
as feminists.
The problem that Emma encountered was not the issue of feminism itself, but the lack of male
involvement. Instead of just focusing on how women are affected by the inequality of the sexes,
Emma chose to raise issues of how men are affected. By offering a different perspective, she was
able to capture the audiences attention and showcase an issue that probably had not been
brought up previously.
Ive seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success.
Men dont have the benefits of equality, either.
We dont often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that they
are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence.
The actual word feminism has received negative publicity and a negative image. Its often
been misinterpreted as man-hating or as the degradation of men. Emma Watson successfully
managed to bring up those misinterpretations and explain the true purpose of feminism. Defining
feminism to prove ones argument that it is not a movement based on the hatred of men is
something that has been done before. To strengthen her argument, Emma focuses on issues that
men face because of the inequality of the genders.
Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to
be strong. It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing
ideals.