Women and their role in the
upcoming campaign have become an important aspect to the candidates when seeking
votes. In the 2008 elections 10 million
more women voted than men, making their voting decisions more important than in
any election ever before. The issues
that have been the most important to women voters are those concerning health
concerns such as birth control and abortion rights, as well as issues
concerning supporting a family and feeding their children. The candidates of
the campaign have taken notice to the important, possibly deciding role that
women will play in the upcoming November elections, as “this campaign has been
marked by an unusual intensity of debate over women’s issues, particularly
reproductive rights (Riccardi).”
Obama is a huge fan of using the
media to attract and recruit the younger generation of voters. He uses accounts on Twitter and Tumblr to
have access to all those who are accessing social media sources at an almost
constant rate. Often, Obama uses these
accounts to update followers with campaign issues, such as the important subjects
concerning women and women issues. While
some advertisements have gained successful popularity among women voters, other
ads have caused uproar and backlash. The
ethos, pathos, and logos of each determine how the intended audience reacts to
the piece of advertisement.
In the picture shown below, Obama
gives the audience the impression of a strong and concerned man. Although his face is stern, it gives off the
fatherly expression which shows compassion and understanding, rather than that
of an all-knowing dictator who would tell a woman what she could or couldn’t do
with her body. By doing this, he is establishing an ethos that makes him
relatable to women, as well as to fathers who are concerned about their
daughter’s well-being. More ethos is
also created with this image and statement for those who know Obama has two
daughters of his own, as well as a wife.
In the statement, “Women are not an
interest group. They are mothers, and
daughters, and sisters, and wives. They
are half of this country and they are perfectly capable of making their own
choices about their health,” Obama begins with generalizing women together as a
whole. This strategy of pathos, by
banding women together, sends the message that all women are in this fight
against health care together. With the
next words “…are not an interest group,” he addresses the issue that all women
are not the same; not raised the same, educated the same, or have the same
access to medical care, so they should not all be grouped into one definitive
group. The breaking down of the
different generations and relations of women as individual human beings
solidifies his message that all women should be treated equally, but on
individual terms and bases. This creates
a strong sense of pathos for all ages of women who come from all different
types of backgrounds, which gives the sense of empowerment individually, as
well as a whole.
“They are half of this country and
are perfectly capable of making their own choices about their health” puts the
power and credibility into the hands of the women as voters. This is meant to make the women feel as if
they are now in control of their own health care and personal choices, and that
Obama is there to help. This is
effective because it sends the message that Obama believes that they do not
need instruction from him or his campaign, or anybody else when it comes to
their personal health choices.
This statement that was posted on
Obama’s Twitter account has a very clear and gender-specific audience – women. The effectiveness of posting this to Twitter
is an obvious attempt to attract the younger audience who will see it and share
it with others more so than if he would’ve stated it in a speech or discussed
it on a late-night talk show visit. How it was presented to the audience shows
that Obama and his campaign believe that younger voters will relate to this
style of advertising and find it more effective to address the issues
concerning them in a social-media centered fashion.
The ethos that is established in
this post is made believable because it comes from President Obama,
himself. Which many voters, and
tweeters, find to be an extremely credible course without much, if any,
question. Emotion and pathos play an important
role in the message of this Tweet because it is centered on women and the issue
that has become most important to many of them.
When Obama says that, “The decisions…they’re up to you,’ the image of
Uncle Sam pointing his finger in recruitment is hard to suppress. “You” is a
very powerful statement because it individualizes each and every reader, rather
than summarizing them as whole and saying “they’re up to women”. If “women”
were to replace “you” a less powerful message would have been sent to the
readers. The “you” individualizes each
reader, each woman, sending an empowering message that suggests, again, that
she is in control.
The picture shown below was
reportedly posted to the official Obama campaign Tumblr page.
Although the Obama campaign claims
to be highly supportive of women and their bodies, the posting of this
advertisement suggests otherwise. This
card is using mostly pathos to address the issues concerning women’s rights to
abortion and contraception in a very brief and “dumbed-down” way. Its target, young women voters between the
ages 18-25, are being encouraged to “vote with their body parts” rather than
with their own intelligence.
The image of the young girl to the
right gives the image of enthusiasm as she raises her hand in support to the
statement that is to the left of her.
This perceives the notion of a woman who really doesn’t have a clear
understanding of what she is voting for and saying “yes” to. The only thing that suggests she understands
what she is voting for is the fact her legs are closed and crossed as if
protecting her “lady parts.”
The logos behind this image and its
posting was meant to be humorous and
appealing to the younger audience that Obama is always trying to impress with a
relatable, friendly appearance. Because
it was on his Tumblr account and not on a national news stations website, the
lax, entertaining piece of media gave the appearance of Obama and his campaign
to be taking women and their issues less seriously than had been previously expressed.
The sloppy appearance of the woman and
the belittling statement she is posed for sends a disturbing message (enthymeme)
to the women who viewed the page and saw the post: a woman should vote solely
based on her gender and the body parts it came with.
Women who saw the ad responded saying that the "statement was misogynistic, and they plan on voting with their brains...also pointing out that abortions aren't really in their gender's best interest, especially when those abortions are sex-selective. (Hamilton)"
These three images used by the
Obama campaign use different methods (and sometimes a combination of) logos,
pathos, and ethos, with the intent of influencing and encouraging the voters to
believe in Obama and his beliefs.
Although some are more popular than others, they are all effective in
using convincing messages to sway the audience towards Obama, or frighten them
away with fear for their body parts.
Works cited
Hamilton,
Amelia. “Obama campaign removes ‘vote like your ladies parts depend on it.’” Red Alert Politics. N.p. 2 Oct. 2012.
Web. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://redalertpolitics.com/2012/10/02/obama-campaign-removes-vote-like-your-lady-parts-depend-on-it-tumblr-post-after-conservative-backlash/>.
“Riccardi,
Nicholas. “Women’s Vote Battle Defines 2012 Presidential Election.” Huffington Post. N.p. 27 Aug. 2012. Web.
2 Oct. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/womens-vote-2012-election_n_1832825.html>
