Bill Clinton Speech Analysis

Clinton used alarming statistics in her speech which helped it resonate with so many people, because she gave numbers and examples of discrimination against women that would move any person sitting in the audience to action. In her speech, Clinton defined the term “freedom”, which she used to condemn events preceding the conference. She stated, “Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize, and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions” (Clinton). Prior to conference, China
These numbers should have alarmed anyone in the audience because Clinton proved that despite the fact that half the people on earth are female, they by far had the highest percentages of discrimination. Clinton used the three statistics to prove that there was a large majority of women who were denied basic human rights. Clinton also discussed the fight for women’s suffrage in the United States, and described it in a significant way. She says, “It took 150 years after the signing of our Declaration of Independence for women to win the right to vote...It was one of America’s most divisive philosophical wars. But it was a bloodless war. Suffrage was achieved without a shot being fired”(Clinton). This is significant because Clinton described it as a “philosophical war” much like the war for women's rights going on when she gave her speech. There were many groups opposed to giving women rights such as education and the right to vote because of what they believed and had been taught, so Clinton faced a war of
Clinton created a strong connection among her audience as she used abusive words to describe conditions women have to endure. She says, “Women also are dying from diseases that should have been prevented or treated. They are watching their children succumb to malnutrition caused by poverty and economic deprivation. They are being denied the right to go to school by their own fathers and brothers. They are being forced into prostitution, and they are being barred from the bank lending offices and banned from the ballot box” (Clinton). Secretary Clinton made a passionate case on why the situation for women is so bad. She used mistreatment to further grow the connection among her audience because every woman had their rights violated, even though the injustice varied. Therefore it was the role of the delegates at the conference to fight against these atrocities committed against women. She used words such as “malnutrition”, “prostitution”, and “deprivation” (Clinton). The negative connotations of these words should have created a sense of urgency in the delegations present. They also create a powerful image in the mind of the listener of a woman who died from action that could have been taken, or their children who starved because they never got any help from the