Rhetorical Analysis
In this analysis, you will find the rhetoric of a leader. This can be a leader from your content class or a leader of your own choosing. You will analyze the rhetoric the author uses to address their subject. You will study the chosen “text” and fully examine the author’s strategies, purposes, and approaches. You are looking at the content (what the article is about) but mainly the composition (how the article is constructed). Determine what the piece of writing seeks to achieve and decide whether or not it is effective and why or why not.
There are certain qualities of personal requirements of becoming and staying in a leadership role in any country. One being knowledgeable and having the self-confidence to share your ideas with other people. Most importantly, having the ability the give people who have opposite ideas the same respect as a person who agrees with you. In recent times, society has seen many separations between opposing teams, more specifically in America in political parties which are republican and democratic. One incident to further analyze would be the opposition between the Unites States congressional districts, with representatives named Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Theodore Yoho. The incident resulted in some foul language from one person to another. Here, Rep. Cortez would make a speech about the incident which can inspire more women in America to speak up for themselves in situations similar.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, also known as AOC, is a 30-year female democratic representative of New York’s 14thcongressional district. AOC was born in New York and grew up in the Bronx. Her stand on certain topics are as follows: “Ocasio- Cortez believes that every human being has the right to housing that is safe, sanitary, and secure — believes that our diversity is our greatest strength in this country and is committed to transformative, empathetic, and just immigration reform”. [1] Currently, many people are supporting her and hope that she runs for president in the year 2030. In opposition, Theodore Scott Yoho, also known as Ted Yoho, is a 65- year old male who has served as a Republican in Florida’s 3rd representative district since the year 2013. In the month of July 2020, representative Yoho called representative AOC an ‘f-cking b-tch’ at the stairs of the U.S Capitol. Even though Yoho publicly apologized, AOC responded with a speech stating that she did not accept his apology and made other interesting statements that can prove that her speech gears towards female empowerment.
Cortez gave an oratorical speech in the house of representatives, talking about the serious issues based on verbal abuse towards women. Her speech was broadcasted nationally on networks such as ABC, CNN, and many others. AOC starts off by stating what happened between her and representative Yoho by saying, ‘about two days ago, I was walking up the steps of the Capitol when Representative Yoho suddenly turned a corner and he was accompanied by Representative Roger Williams and accosted me on the steps right here in front of our nation’s Capital. I was minding my own business, walking up the steps and Representative Yoho put his finger in my face, he called me disgusting, he called me crazy, he called me out of my mind, and he called me dangerous’. [2] After some time, Yoho proceeded to call Cortez a “f-cking b-tch”. AOC responded in her speech that “these were the words that Representative Yoho levied against a congresswoman. The congresswoman that not only represents New York’s 14th Congressional District but every congresswoman and every woman in this country. Because all of us have had to deal with this in some form, some way, some shape, at some point in our lives”[3]. In this statement, AOC was able to generalize the situation where all women can relate because men constantly verbally abuse women. This may be due to society make men believe that they can do so. Cortez furthers this idea by saying, “dehumanizing language is not new, and what we are seeing is that incidents like these are happening in a pattern. This is a pattern of an attitude towards women and dehumanization of others” after giving few examples of similar incidents in her personal life, and her experiences with the president of America, Governor DeSantis, and a few others.
Instead of the speech being more personal and emotionally geared to gain the sympathy of others from the incident, AOC was able to make it an empowering speech by not making herself feel inferior towards Yoho’s dehumanizing language. Cortez states, ‘I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men’. Her purpose of the speech also served to shed light on men, even with women in their personal lives, can still verbally dehumanize another woman. AOC states, ‘I believe is that having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man, and when a decent man messes up as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize. Not to save face, not to win a vote, he apologizes genuinely to repair and acknowledge the harm done so that we can all move on’. AOC was able to extort a strong woman personality with a great statement to be used as an example for a future women to stand up for themselves. By not accept apologies from men who stands by their first use of derogatory and dehumanizing language, a woman in power can instill their equality with men.
Overall, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s speech was successful to make a speech about sexist and dehumanizing language in regard to her female audience who has experienced a similar situation with people like Yoho. Having this speech broadcasted on national television, it was able to gain more attraction and started circulating on social media platforms such as Tik-Tok with support from other woman and men who agrees. AOC’s serious tone in the speech shows that there need to be certain boundaries between how a woman should be spoken to, especially in a governmental setting. AOC’s speech flowed very well and clearly stated her motives on why she wanted to speak against Rep. Yoho. She was able to shed light on a serious matter that needs to be changed and now have gained even more support from young-adult women of color who aims to be in a men-dominating workplace. In hindsight, this incident proves that no matter who goes against your personal ideals, you are still required to treat them with respect—especially if you are in a high government position.
[1] https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/issues
[2] https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-floor-speech-about-yoho-remarks-july-23
[3] https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-floor-speech-about-yoho-remarks-july-23
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