**Very rough draft, will likely be changed/VERY cleaned up, apologies in advance**

 

Deeply rooted into being a societal norm, institutionalized gender discrimination is what our country has been built on, structurally hardwired into our nation along every point of female identity difference. Not only based upon gender in general, this discrimination runs deeper, targeting women of color even more-so than white females. The wage gap, also known as the “gender wage gap” or “gender pay gap,” refers to the disparity in incomes between men and women for doing the same work, and is seen among a wide variety of career fields, from business to sports. This wage gap can be used when referring to the disparities between White workers and Black or Latinx workers as well, who on top of being discriminated against due to their gender, also face unfair racial biases.

Beyond a violation of basic rights as an American citizen, the gender wage gap is a form of gender based discrimination that brings it all full circle, creating a domino effect for so many women paid unfairly, leading to an inability to purchase basic necessities, such as already overpriced menstrual products, which are already taxed as a “luxury item” as it is. As society continues to develop over the years, and so many other deeply rooted issues begin to be dug up, we must pose the question, at what point do women begin to be paid the equivalent of their male counterparts, regardless of race?

 

 

Passion Blog– In depth analysis of Grey’s Anatomy deaths (what happened in the episode, relationship of character to others, overall impact, my feelings on the death, etc…)

 

Civic Issue Blog-  The education gap (talk about developing countries (lack of education, gender bias, etc…) as well as general social inequality in education in all countries **still exploring this topic and am hoping to cover all sides of unequal education**

Apologies in advance that this is just not at all what either of my brainstorms were. Additional apologies that it’s far far from edited or near it’s final state by any means, as i’m still trying to figure out exactly how to word and portray my story and belief.

 

The cool air flowed through the airport and brushed my skin, forming goosebumps as I sat with my family, awaiting the boarding of our plane from California to North Carolina. This wasn’t a vacation to the east coast, but a move, after 4 years in the place we had made our home. At 11 years old, this was the 4th time I was moving states, I’d never even been at the same school for more than one year. New place, new school, new potential friends, new opportunity to have no friends at all, a fresh yet scary start. It was what I wanted, what I had begged my parents for before we even knew about Dad’s new job assignment, minus the fear of course. While these thoughts were all running through my head at a rapid pace, I couldn’t help but notice out of the corner of my eye that my mom was crying. My rock, my superhero, the only one that understood me when even I didn’t understand myself, and kept me grounded as I struggled in California, was upset about leaving, just as I was beginning to feel. It was only the second time I can ever remember seeing her cry. In our short time in California, we met friends that became family, and yet I was so caught up in the fresh start I so badly longed for, that I hadn’t even thought of the idea that this could be a hard move for not just my siblings and even me, but our parents as well. My emotions began to play tug-of-war, as I realized that while I was internally battling over the idea of a fresh start, and blaming myself with the negative possibilities that the move could bring, given that 11 year old me was convinced it was my asking that prompted the move, my mom was fighting her own internal battle. She had found her people, and was being taken from them during yet another move. I decided at that moment to be the strength, as my mom had done for me time and time again. I looked at her, and used a quote that I had read to the crowds of families during my 5th grade promotion just a week prior. “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”. Dr Seuss is who said it, and while I didn’t know then and still don’t know now the context of the sentence in his life, what I do know is that it’s one of the only quotes I’ve ever been able to remember distinctly, and represents the feeling of leaving comfort and familiarity behind, and walking into the unknown. I will never forget the look on my moms face when these words stumbled out of my mouth, my solid attempt at making her feel less alone, just as she had done for me in every aspect in life up to that point. She smiled at me, and told me that I was absolutely right, and our new adventure was waiting just across the country. This was the first time I had ever taken a step back to acknowledge the feelings of someone else, even when I was feeling my own, and the situation that has made me believe that you can feel and still sympathize. You can be struggling and still recognize someone’s struggle, and it’s ok to not be ok, because opportunity awaits around every corner.

“This I Believe” Podcast Ideas 

• mental health resources need to be easily accessible and unstigmatized for all
• an end needs to be put to the pink tax/broader podcast about the remaining societal gaps in gender equality

Passion Blog Ideas

• analysis of deaths in greys anatomy: looking at the way that the characters death impacted other characters in the show/review of episode they died in as a whole
• continuation of last semesters book blog

Civic Issue Blog Ideas

• abortion rights/overturning of roe v wade and public response of it/women’s healthcare as a whole and the decisions that are made for women regarding their bodies
• education gap in developing countries

A topic that I brought up on my first ever blog, which was a passion blog brainstorm, was my interest regarding the criminal justice system. While I ultimately decided not to use this idea for my passion blog, it is still something I find great interest in, and would be a very good topic for this group project. While there are obviously many directions the project could go in based on the broad topic of our country’s criminal justice system, I think it would allow for everyone in the group to find a part within which they find passion or interest, and also be something that has enough niche portions to keep the project highly analytical and within assignment guidelines. Some smaller topics within the large one include false imprisonment, people kept in prison past their sentencing, and the lack in of proper representation for people who cannot afford private lawyers.

An additional topic I find great interest in that was brought up by one of my group mates is the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial. It’s already something we touched on in class and therefore we know it’s able to be analyzed. Additionally, we can cover a bigger topic such as public trials, men vs women being accusers of domestic violence, or many other things that tie into the specific case of Depp and Heard.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Kic_4FhIhHF2rz8BaYUBIynvtKBfLyF5jdobxP1T3lc/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

Elevator Pitch  (clickable link)

Favorite- https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity

I’ll be the first to admit that i’m not the biggest fan of TED talks. While I do enjoy listening to them when they’re a subject i’m interested in, I often times find myself not quite as engaged as I should or could be. However, one talk that I found myself drawn to was Sir Ken Robinsons “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”. I have always been a strong advocate of school being less of a mold to fit students into and more of a place that allows intellectual and creative growth, and this talk puts an emphasis on these beliefs. It does a great job of not only staying entertaining and therefore engaging, but also urging the education system to nurture creativity as oppose to put it in a box.

Idea- Following my theme of feminism that I’ve continued to develop throughout the semester, the first idea that comes to mind in regards to a Unit 2 project topic would be feminism and gender equality in all aspects of life. I would be able to take pieces from all of my speeches and writing assignments thus far to touch on the gender norms assigned from birth, ways the futures of children are shaped by their treatment based on gender, and the way that gender has dictated so many things that it shouldn’t, even in the modern age of fights for gender equality. This is definitely a rough draft of a brainstorm, but I feel it is something I would be able to take go into a lot of depth on and already have a pretty good understanding of. Another idea I have, similar to the broader feminism idea, is the relevance of the pink tax, and the way that even as we stray away from gender inequality, it is still a very prominent issue. These are the only ideas that come to mind as of now, but i’m going to continue brainstorming and will come back to edit this post as I think of more.

As I reflect on my overall speech performance, I find that there are many personal improvements that can be made for the future. While I will admit that the written aspect of my speech itself is something I am very proud of, as not only did I take a lot of time to write and edit it, but it is something that reflects my genuine passion regarding the subject, I do feel that my performance of the speech is something with much to be improved upon.

I feel that my biggest weakness in my speech recording is my overall “stage presence” and lack of maintained eye contact with the ‘”audience”.  A factor that I likely contributed to my lack of these things was my overall memorization of my speech. I do not think that I prepared myself quite enough in regards to having it decently memorized to avoid needing to read a script. While I tried my best to alternate between my script and the audience, I did find while rewatching my recording that I struggled to keep my eyes completely off of the script at many points during my speech.

However, while I have highlighted the many weaknesses I find within my speech performance, I have also found many strengths. As mentioned before, the topic of my speech is one that I posses great passion towards, and therefore I was able to easily use vocal tone shifts to portray the emotion I wanted to be relayed to the audience. Piggybacking off of this, I feel that being able to relay messages and feelings while maintaining audience interest is something I accomplished, as I used a strong hook and kept my speech fairly concise and straight forward with the information I wanted to share and message I was aiming to spread.

Overall, while I am still very proud of my work and feel that I have written a speech that both informs and reflects my passion, I still have work to do when it comes to the overall speech performance aspect, and will be sure to improve upon it for the next time.

“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)