Burnout. A word our generation has become all-too familiar with. But what is burnout? Psychology Today defines it as feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy. Yet to millennials and gen-z, burnout almost feels like our natural emotional state. Not only were we beginning to feel the effects of constantly “running” as my mom has put it, before the pandemic, but the Covid quarantine only increased this exhausted feeling. How did it do this? How did we let a time that was supposed to allow us to rest and re-center become a time where our to-do lists felt longer than ever? Is it because the work-from-home option made our relaxing environment stressful? Was it due to the lack of real human interaction? Or is it because the definition of a successful life has changed? Our society has glamorized burnout, making it the ultimate mark of success, but at what cost?

Possible sources

 Indeed Study Shows That Worker Burnout Is At Frighteningly High Levels: Here Is What You Need To Do Now – By Jack Kelly 

I would like to use this article because it provides solid statistics taken from a survey on how each generation is suffering from burnout. This could be really useful in my essay from providing the evidence that the younger generations are feeling burnout more than the older generations. Along with this, this survey was taken post-pandemic, so I would also be able to use that information and Kairos to further prove the increase of burnout in recent times. 

Burnout Is Real, On the Rise, and Retractable – by Camille Preston Ph.D.

I really like this article for a number of reasons: 

1. It gives a definition of burnout from a psychologist
2. It has a relatability while still providing facts 
3. It gives examples of how to prevent/decrease burnout, which can also serve as further evidence of the things workplaces aren’t doing to help the mental health of their employees. 

I would definitely like to use the definition she gives of burnout, and how the things that could be solutions are just problems in disguise. It also gives a cost of burnout, something that is super intriguing. I would most likely use this information in the “side effects” of burnout in my paper. When we think of mental health issues, we don’t realize that there could and is a monetary cost to it, so this would be a great thing to dig deeper into. 

I really liked Ashley Whillans’s 3 rules for better work-life balance. She was very engaging in her body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. She also kept a consistent speed in her delivery that was fast enough to still feel like you are moving forward but not so fast that the audience wouldn’t be able to comprehend what she was saying. Another notable thing about this TED talk is that Ashley isn’t delivering in front of a live audience, but rather a camera to make a recorded video. As we all experienced in the making of our own recorded videos for the civic artifact speeches, this is an incredibly difficult thing to do because there is no audience to feed off of your energy and vise versa. Yet Ashley does a great job engaging with her audience, even though she had no interaction with them. 

Stepping away from the delivery of this TED talk, I also really liked the topic. The amount of people experienced burnout especially following the lockdown stage of the pandemic has significantly increased. Due to this ride in deflation, this is a super relevant topic, meaning that more people will want to listen and take action on what Ashley said in this speech. I (and most, if not all other students at this university) have personally been experiencing my own struggles with work/school-life balance, but this video reassured me that I am not alone and informed me that there are ways to make that balance easier to achieve. 

After watching this video, I have been inspired to write my TED talk delivery on a similar topic, maybe how the dynamic of a work-life balance has shifted in recent years as companies are demanding more from their employers. I could also work a shift in the dynamic of a family life into this, possibly expanding on how the definition of success has changed as well. Success used to be defined as “a white picket fence, 2.5 kids, a dog, and a happy marriage”, but now, success is more individual, finding happiness in a career and personal lifestyle rather than the typical “american dream” of what success is. All of these offer a really unique perspective on why we as a generations and a society are experiencing burnout at such a large magnitude. 

Overall, I feel that I did a decent job with this speech. I stayed on topic, had good pacing in my delivery, and did well with inflecting my voice to stress certain aspects of my speech. One of the things that my dad pointed out to me as I was practicing in front of him that he really liked about my speech was that it doesn’t, as he put it, “beat you over the head with feminism”. This may seem like an alarming comment, but this is actually a bad habit I have gotten into in the last few years. My family, particularly my mom, has pointed out several occasions in which I was maybe a little too aggressive in my activism, so receiving this comment from my dad made me feel a little more secure in the writing style and thought process I chose for this speech. I really enjoyed putting this together because it also directly ties into my passion blog. However, even though I was really interested in my topic, I don’t feel like that came across in my facial expressions. I know I could have done a lot better with facial expressions and body language in this speech. As someone who did a lot of theatre, I was honestly surprised when I found myself struggling with this aspect. However, I think that performing for a computer took away a lot of those engaging skills I normally do really well with because I wasn’t actually interacting with anyone. Along those lines, even though I rehearsed my speech a lot before filming, I still found myself relying on my note cards, probably because of nerves. For the next speech assignment I will definitely be working on my facial expressions, body language, and will try new methods for fighting off nerves. 

In most entertainment today, we see reflections of current events or social movements, especially in the last two years. In fact, the entertainment industry is one of the biggest users of kairos, embracing every hot topic they can in order to engage their audience. Currently, most are embracing the kairos of Covid-19, civil rights movements, and feminist movements, which have all been pretty big topics in the last year or so. However, this is not a new concept. Movies, television, and music have been reacting to and reflecting current trends for decades. Most of the time, this is done through the development and writing of leading characters, who will typically go through a similar situation that people are facing in the time period of its release. From the late 1950’s up to present day, feminism has been a non-stop movement across America as women and those who support feminism and equality fight for just that. In the late 50’s, the “Second Wave” Feminist movement began following World War II as more women wanted to be treated equally in the workforce and in their home lives. After all, they contributed just as much to the war efforts by supporting the American economy and war efforts from home soil as the soldiers overseas had. Eventually, the children of the Second Wave Movement grew up and became inspired by their mothers and grandmothers who had fought for their equality. This inspiration sparked the “Third Wave” Feminist Movement of the 90’s, where women fought for more legal and political equality. Continuing on from this wave is essentially every movement and march that has occurred in the last twenty years to fight for women’s rights and equality, embracing all of the ideas from before. Eventually, the entertainment industry began to reflect these feminist ideologies in leading female characters. Female leads were suddenly more witty, intelligent, and skilled in combat. Filmmakers and writers use kairotic moments and movements to shape string female characters that are inspiring and relatable for women, thus adding fuel to the fire that it the feminist movement. They tap into each of the persuasive elements in order to gain the trust of their audience that these characters are accurate representations of women during the time period of their releases. The Star Wars franchise is a great example of using these methods for creating female leads that please modern women’s ideals. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan was one of the first leading female characters to show Strong female characteristics after the “Second Wave Feminist movement”. As a main female character, Leia reflected the desires for equality and respect  in her attitude, personality, and intelligence. Through the films she is featured in, she expresses her true feelings without regret, holds an immense position of power as both a princess and general, and shows dedication to her cause by essentially sustaining hope for the rebels over a 40 year time period, even as the male heroes come and go as it is convenient for them. The directors and writers took advantage of the kairos that presented itself directly following the Second Wave and created a character that they felt would meet the standards that women were demanding. 

As the feminist movement progressed, so did the female leads in Star Wars. In the early 90’s the Third Wave feminist movement, based on desire for political and legal equality, was in full effect in the United States. When The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, Padme Amidala was designed as a powerful woman in politics, negotiating with intelligence, wit, and success.  Even though Padme also suffers from some stereotyping and has a severe drop in her character arc in the last few minutes of Revenge of the Sith, she never falters from a composed queen and senator, fighting for democracy in the “right ways’ ‘. Padme serves as an embodiment of everything that the Third Wave fought for women to be seen as: a powerful, intelligent leader who was still “allowed” to be feminine. Nearly two decades later, Rey, a culmination of essentially every female movement in the last 50 years, made her first appearance as the main protagonist in The Force Awakens. Along with being the first female in the “hero” role in this franchise, she is also clearly the most progressive character from her skills to her clothing. 

1. Captain marvel – reflection of feminist movements and backlash received over Black widow 
2. Comparison of Rey Vs. Captain marvel and how they both reflect the feminist movements in different ways while maintaining the same ideals 
3. How ethos, pathos, logos are used in each of the characters 
4. The importance of kairos in constructing a character that is going to reflect a current idea 
5. How women also reflect these character back into feminist movements, essentially in a progressive cycle.

• Media, movies and entertainment reflect current events 
• Some use subtle approaches, some more obvious (examples) 
• Big franchises have a larger, more diverse audience, so they tend to engage rhetorically in a subtle way 
• Star wars encourages girls to be brave, but only to a certain degree 
• But they still reflect feminist movements throughout the decades 
• Thesis: 
  • The leading female characters from the Star Wars franchise are a direct reflection of the feminist movements prior to their release. 
• Leia is a reflection of the “Second Wave Feminist movement”  
  • Agenda: more equality in the workplace and home life 
• Leia is smart, witty, and brave
• The writers took advantage of kairos to create a better female character 
• But, she still has flaws (over-sexualization, only 15% of screen time in movie 4 ) 
• Early 90’s : Third wave Feminist Movement 
  • Wanted more legal and political equality
• Padme is a powerful women in politics who takes no nonsense from the boys 
• “So this is how democracy dies, in thunderous applause” 
• Padme is an embodiment of everything that the Third Wave fought for women to be seen as: a powerful, intelligent leader who was still feminine. 
• Rey does stem from some kairotic movement, but is mostly a combination of all feminism in the last 50 years 
• However, the writers kinda use logos to justify why she is strong and independent, rather than just letting her be (speeder hot-wire, fighting skills) 
• Majorly engages with pathos though by essentially rewarding women with a strong female lead – women were so excited to see a girl in front 
• Even engages with pathos when she is degraded constantly (“girl”), the audience (at least the female audience) feels enraged by this and recognizes not to to that in real life 
• Each of the female leads is a direct reflection of the movements that had come before them
• Women sustain in battle, men just swoop in and out when they want to (real life and movie) 
• Women will never back down