Beyonce's Gender Equality is a Myth Rhetorical Analysis

Beyoncé is a worldwide phenomenon who has caused craze around the world with her hit songs, famous moves, and electric performances. Her fanbase, the “Beyhive”, has supported her not just for her music but also for her fierce support of feminism. An example of her outward support is an essay that she wrote pertaining to gender equality. Her main claim is that women lack the same amount of opportunities as men. “Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes.” This is an example of logos in which she uses a survey that recorded the income that women made compared to men. She uses mainly data to represent her arguments but she also appeals to emotion as well. “Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender.” Beyoncé utilizes pathos because if any men read this essay it appeals to their personal relationships with women to make them realize that all women have a personal relationship with a man. The infamous writer attempts to reveal that we, as a society, need to teach all genders to respect women. In addition, she conveys that women are equal to them in order to receive the same opportunities as men. Beyoncé’s target audience is women of mainly a younger age. We know this because she says the word “we”, referring to women, and she makes the point that we need to change the minds of the future generations to relate to younger women that can make a difference. The audience affects the author’s tone to a more empowering feeling that would make her audience more willing to work for change. “We must demand that we all receive 100 percent of the opportunities.” This is an example of one of the empowering tones that she uses to influence the overall tone of the paper. The author’s purpose is to disillusion her audience from the myth of gender equality, demand equality, and she utilizes facts to support this claim.

[Carter, Beyonce Knowles-. "Gender Equality Is a Myth!" The Shriver Report. N.p., 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.]