Rhetorical Analysis On Like A Girl

“Like a Girl”
Always, one of the largest corporations who produce feminine care products, debuted a sixty second advertisement during the superbowl. This ad concentrates on one of the things that, undoubtedly, every single person, regardless of gender has heard at some point in their lives: “You throw like a girl!”. The advertisement shows differences in how young women, boys and young girls perceive the phrase, “like a girl.” The Super Bowl commercial gained recognition for changing the conversation about what it means to run, throw and perform activities “like a girl.” Using strong emotional appeals to empower girls, the authors empower women by using the power of ethos, pathos, and logos.

The advertisement begins with a casting audition, with a typical blonde teenager standing in front of a camera. The message “What does it mean to do something ‘like a girl’?” flashes on the
This makes the advertisement extremely relatable. One can easily imagine themselves, a sister, daughter, or friend in the same position as the girls in the video. The audience feels a sense of pity for the teens who portray acting “like a girl” in a stereotypically feminine way, when the children portrayed the opposite actions. There is another appeal to the audience when asking, “When does ‘like a girl’ become an insult?” This plays on their emotions and makes them realize the harmful impacts that using “female” as synonymous to “weak” can have. Always is also marketing this ad towards the parents that buy the menstrual products for their daughters. Every parent wants to see his or her daughter happy, self-confident, and respected. By revealing the underlying sexism of this popular phrase “like a girl”, it appeals to pathos by sending the parents a message saying they need to help to empower their girls, as well as teach their children that these comments can be