Hillary Clinton Women's Rights

Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered her speech entitled “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” in 1995 at the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. The title of Clinton’s speech acts as an effective indicator of her main topic; she believed that the rights of women were regarded as less significant than the rights of humans. Clinton sought to persuade her audience to raise the rights of women to a position of equal importance to the rights of humans. Clinton’s words represented a call to action to people around the world to not only recognize the urgency of doing so but also to push for change in their respective countries. Clinton’s audience was comprised of a diverse group of guests at the World Conference; including men and women,

If her topic or her word choice were considered offensive or inflammatory towards China, their relations with the United States would have suffered. Other groups were also wary of Clinton’s speech, such as Catholic officials, Islamic countries, and extremely conservative Americans. Since these groups traditionally held strong beliefs concerning women’s role in society, they opposed Clinton’s speech promoting women’s rights and independence. Clinton was not alone in using the canon of invention; she accepted help from her political staff, specifically Winston Lord, Eric Schwartz, and Madeleine Albright. Together, they scrutinized Clinton’s speech, omitting any terms deemed offensive, while striving to maintain the integrity of Clinton’s message. The primary method that the staff employed to avoid offending the opposing groups was to not name them explicitly. Even while describing women’s rights violations that clearly occurred in China, Clinton did not name the country in her speech. This strategy enabled Clinton to communicate the magnitude of the atrocities without sounding accusatory. Clinton’s use of the canon of invention was essential because it allowed her to deliver her speech in those particular circumstances without critically damaging foreign

First, she gained her audience’s attention in her introduction by declaring that the conference overall was a celebration and by listing some roles that women fulfill in the society. Next, she related her topic to her audience by describing women coming together and by giving specific examples of how that happens, which enabled the audience to identify personally with her message. Then, Clinton established her credibility on the topic of women’s rights by discussing events that she attended concerning the issue, hosted by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Fund for Women. By divulging that information, Clinton proved to her audience that she was knowledgeable and had experience in the area. The last objective achieved by Clinton’s introduction was previewing the main points of her speech, namely the way women’s status affects families, the way those families affect society on a larger scale, and the action that needs to take place. After delivering the body of her speech, Clinton signaled the conclusion to her audience by saying, “Now it is the time to act on behalf of women everywhere.” Next, she made a reference to her introduction by mentioning the ways that women affect families. Clinton also summarized her main points before making the final memorable declaration, “The time is now.” Clinton’s conclusion was effective because it reminded her audience