In Shirley Chisholm's speech "Equal Rights for Women"she argues for the equal treatment of women in the workforce. She explains that during a time in which racial discrimination was being deemed as "unacceptable", that discrimination against women should also be unacceptable. The exigence in Chisholm's speech is clear, because although we live in a time where women still are not paid the same wages, more women are holding the same jobs as men. Chisholm spoke during a time where women were not at all seen fit to be doctors, engineers, or CEOs. In today's time although there still are not as many women in certain professions as there are men, there is no longer a clear gender division. We live in a time where there a female doctors, male nurses, and a female running for the presidency. I believe Chisholm's urgency for congress to pass the equal rights bill came from a sense of restlessness as well as being a woman and being African American. Chisholm has experience discrimination from both sides and knew that if something was being done about civil rights for African Americans, something needed to be done for the equal rights of women as well.
The Kairos for " Equal Rights for Women" was mainly meant for the 1960s. It was a speech that was appropriate for a time period where a majority of women were discriminated against. As Maya said, " We live in a time where there a female doctors, male nurses, and a female running for the presidency," and the speech would only relate to jobs that are still being labelled as for men.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Chisholm's exigence in her speech came from, like you said, "a sense of restlessness". At the time, women faced severe discrimination and were restricted from pursuing careers or a lifestyle out of the norm. Chisholm managed to pursue and obtain the job she wanted, but still faced discrimination. Her frustration with the discrimination both she and the women who wanted to be in her professional position faced explains the exigence presented in her speech. It makes the "why now" component of her argument much stronger.
ReplyDeleteI believe that tied with this feeling of urgency, Chisholm is able to attain a level of authority. As visible from the photo, she maintains a strong composure that gives off a sense of confidence and knowledge that many women at the time did not have due to the sexist oppression.
ReplyDeleteI believe that tied with this feeling of urgency, Chisholm is able to attain a level of authority. As visible from the photo, she maintains a strong composure that gives off a sense of confidence and knowledge that many women at the time did not have due to the sexist oppression.
ReplyDeleteThe exigence of this movement is very important. If Chisholm's had given this speech at time were woman's and civil rights weren't a main issue, it wouldn't have been as effective. All her points would have been perceived as irrelevant. The exigence allowed for this speech to be important to the time. This speech is even relevant to our world today because of the pay gap and job positions. Exigence is very important to an text and Chisholm's uses it to her advantage.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though many social movements use exigence as one of their main motives, since a feeling of urgency can truly force change. Shirley Chisholm definitely used exigence as she introduced her desire to bring about new legislation to promote equal rights. She knew that legislation must be passed first before change could happen.
ReplyDeleteWith her ethos and the time period Chisholm is able to capture the attention of everyone and send her message out. With her strong ideals she really pushed her ideas home and the picture just shows her as being strong and definitely one to lead women to equality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that this speech came with great exigence because this was a time period were starting to see equality. Even though at this point women were not yet up to the same standard as men, people such as the black population and other race populations were assimilating into society as equals. This put the idea in the minds of the people that all people are equal, and it was important for Chisholm to utilize this mindset that was in the people at this time
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