A Comparison of Rhetorical Times

Although both pieces of media are represented by a different medium (one is a photo, the other is an online article), rhetorical strategies are certainly used by both authors. What is interesting here is that not only do the two "texts" represent different time periods for the stages of the feminist movement, but they seem to be representing two entirely different views as well. However, their strategies to convey these views are not much different; arguably, the texts both use the same (if not very similar) rhetorical strategies. The picture of the bra burners from the 1960's is most likely trying to instill some sort of emotion in the viewer by showing this rather outlandish act of protest. The women seem to be having a great time while doing it, too. Either way, some form of pathos is definitely being used by the photographer here; one can argue that the picture invokes a sort of... urgency, in a sense. The viewer, depending on their view on feminism, could be enraged by this photo by the blatant act of defiance, or could begin to feel excited that the feminist movement is going somewhere. The article, on the other hand, has a very different view on the situation at hand, but the author still uses a similar strategy: an over-the-top use of pathos. Rollins (the author) tries to convince the reader that feminism and the women that represent it are actually not as noble as they made their movement seem. He provides several examples to try and rally up some anger within the reader; on one instance, he even goes out of his way to try and portray feminists as some sort of religion-haters who cry for equality, but are very intolerant of other people's views. This, of course, is a far-fetched stretch of the truth- but it gets the job done, right? His use of pathos could easily sway the reader into being fairly angry at these "hypocritical" feminists. Pathos may not be the only rhetorical appeal that appears within the two mediums, but it certainly is a prevalent one.