On September 5, 1995, the U.N. 4th World Conference on Women featured then First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton as a speaker for one of the sessions. The conference was held in Beijing, China, a country which in itself was exhibiting some of the worst cases of violence against women. Using Bitzer’s theory of rhetorical situation, I will provide context to explain what circumstances led to the delivery of this speech, as well as analyze and explain the impact Clinton’s “Women’s rights are Human Rights” speech had on governments around the world. This speech persuaded world governments into adopting policies to make a difference for their female population.
Although by 1995 the United Nations had already had three different conferences geared…show more content… Clinton is making reference to the communist government that ruled China. During her speech, the broadcast on television and radio was blacked out because the government did not want for the presentation to cause uprising by the people of the country. Many people were also banned from coming to the conference (Tyler). Even though Clinton manage to overcome the constraints of the government by providing statistics and strong images portraying horrible treatments, she failed to acknowledge the traditions and cultures in which women around the world, including China, are raised upon. Because different cultures are supportive of a patriarchal society, the vision of women as inferior is a common practice that is not frowned upon, making it easier for abuse to happen in the household without ever being