“The Future is Female” Rhetorical Analysis Speech 

132 years. Longer than anyone here will be alive. That is the projected length of time it will take the gender gap to reach full parity. This means that not a single woman on this planet today will ever get to experience the true equality that the feminism movement has been fighting to gain for the last 182 years.

While it has been an issue addressed since the 1840’s, when the first of many women’s rights conventions took place, and has been taking seemingly decent strides towards success throughout the years, recent events have caused backpedaling in the fight for gender equity. In light of these events, one commonplace has jumped out as a prominent representation of this movement, making waves across countless nations as not only controversial, but powerful. The future is female. In stride with the feminism movement, this slogan has come in waves of popularity, first coined in 1975 on a t-shirt designed in a feminist bookstore, and now most recently regaining traction with everyone from celebrities, to politicians, to devout feminists alike. Found in the form of not only t-shirts, posters, flags, and signs for women’s rights marches, but advertisements and even awards as well, this seemingly simple statement is one that holds an immense power in regards to the ever-so prominent fight for equality.

While used in many instances through the generations of fights for feminine power, one company made a powerful statement with their use of “The Future is Female”. Employing the slogan as the centerpiece of their shoe collection launch, Wittner Shoes created not only a beautiful advertisement showcasing their high-class product, but an advertisement that uses visual rhetoric to create a deeply-layered message regarding all things feminism, and a future of equality. 

The company took a statement that has not only gained media traction, but controversy along the way as well, and gave it the ability to make a difference with just 4 simple words. Although widely used and supported for many years, this commonplace has also caused a bit of backlash. With its seemingly straightforward way of “cutting men out of the equation” as some put it, people in disagreement claim that it’s a push for roles to be completely reversed in the future, with men being in the position of lesser treatment while women gain success and opportunities. It brought forth a particular level of distaste from many when 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used the line in her speech addressing the 2017 MAKERS conference, with many publicizing their negative feeling towards her use of the statement, making claims that it “creates a bias towards men” and promotes the idea of men being the “bad guys” of society. However, this advertisement does not make any of these types of claims or insinuations, and instead focuses on showing off the beauty of both women and their product, using what would have already been an existing advertisement to spread a message of support during these less than ideal times in so many places for women’s rights. This advertisement is a great example of the way that a simple few words without context can mean so little, but adding context can make all the difference in the world. 

Through the use of a stylistic design, with limited color palette and simple structure, the Wittner advertisement team was able to put an emphasis on the harsh lines of the models’ stance, and boldness of the “Future is Female” slogan. The red line striking under the slogan and through the legs of the model highlights the words as being the focal point of the ad, which says a lot in regards to the companies passion towards the movement given it is technically still a promotion of their shoes. Additionally, the choice of red in contrast to the black and white of the rest of the ad can be seen as not only an emphasis on the urgency tied to the phrase, but a symbolic representation of what “The Future is Female” really means. Historically and culturally, the color red has a variety of meanings, including life, health, vigor, war, courage, anger, love and religious fervor. While these are all different, and there’s no way to confirm exactly which Wittner was aiming to incorporate into their ad, each of these meanings has one common thread, they all require passion. It is safe to state that this ad thrives off of its creators passion for the women’s rights movement, and we can infer that the use of red can be seen as a symbolic emphasis on the way that passion fuels power, and power helps to create change. 

Additionally, the stance of the model in the ad is another interesting point in regards to its visual rhetoric. She is posed in such a way that has her simultaneously leaning forward on her toes and rocking backward, creating what is referred to in high-fashion modeling as a “line of beauty” with her body. This S shape creates a direct line of sight to the words on the advertisement, and draws the attention of the audience to its central message of “The Future is Female”, while simultaneously highlighting the female model, who is a representation of all females fighting for equality through this slogan.

Overall, this advertisement uses a seemingly simple approach of visual rhetoric to promote a message with great meaning and importance. Through powerful color, bold font, and a sleek stance, it puts forth a message that cannot be ignored.

The future IS female, but that doesn’t mean it’s anti-male, it simply means that women WILL get the rights we deserve, and the use of this commonplace by Wittner Shoes is a great asset on the track to change.

Thank You.

“The Future is Female” VS “Inspire Her Mind” A Feminine Future (i promise that this is in the works and will be better by next week!)

Intro

Feminism. More than a word, it advocates for women’s social, political, legal and economic rights being equal to those of men.

With a projection of 132 years until full parity of the gender gap, not a single female on our planet today will ever get the opportunity to be treated with genuine equality, or viewed as an equal peer to male counterparts. Though this is a pressing matter just as prevalent now as it has been for the last century, companies such as Wittner Shoes and Verizon have made waves in media advertisement with their “Future is Female ” and “Inspire her Mind ” campaigns. While they are seemingly opposites in rhetorical approach and overall execution, both promote an overall future of equality for women, and provide a sense of empowerment, urging our next generation to follow their dreams, not the societal expectation so deeply ingrained in our minds.

 

Background on gender equality (lack-thereof)

Contrast of ad’s (Verizon emotional appeal vs Wittner visual appeal )

• phone company vs high fashion apparel (way that their audiences differ)
• video vs simple/minimalistic advertisement (affect on overall rhetoric appeal)
• overall company promotion vs specific promotion of certain product

Deeper rhetorical analysis of video

• timeline of girl growing up
• background music
• outside people commenting on her actions
• happy ending

Deeper rhetorical analysis of ad

• Through the use of a stylistic design, with limited color palette and simple structure, the Wittner advertisement team was able to put an emphasis on the harsh lines of the models’ stance, and boldness of the “Future is Female” slogan. The red line striking under the slogan and through the legs of the model highlights the words as being the focal point of the ad, which says a lot in regards to the companies passion towards the movement given it is technically still a promotion of their shoes. Additionally, the choice of red in contrast to the black and white of the rest of the ad can be seen as not only an emphasis on the urgency tied to the phrase, but a symbolic representation of what “The Future is Female” really means. Historically and culturally, the color red has a variety of meanings, including life, health, vigor, war, courage, anger, love and religious fervor. While these are all different, and there’s no way to confirm exactly which Wittner was aiming to incorporate into their ad, each of these meanings has one common thread, they all require passion. It is safe to state that this ad thrives off of its creators passion for the women’s rights movement, and we can infer that the use of red can be seen as a symbolic emphasis on the way that passion fuels power, and power helps to create change. Additionally, the stance of the model in the ad is another interesting point in regards to its visual rhetoric. She is posed in such a way that has her simultaneously leaning forward on her toes and rocking backward, creating what is referred to in high-fashion modeling as a “line of beauty” with her body. This S shape creates a direct line of sight to the words on the advertisement, and draws the attention of the audience to its central message of “The Future is Female”, while simultaneously highlighting the female model, who is a representation of all females fighting for equality through this slogan. **go into more depth

Overall comparison + meanings of both (way they come together to relate as a bigger picture although vastly different)

Conclusion (way our society has miles to go before reaching equality, but ad’s like these are a step in the right direction and sign of hope)