Julia Gillard Misogyny Speech Analysis

Filippa Törnkvist

English, MYP5

Mr.Steadman

Word count: 1349

3/3-2014

Misogyny speech analysis

The misogyny speech was delivered by Julia Gillard, Australia’s Prime Minister on the 9th of October in 2012. The speech is a response to the sexism that Tony Abbott, the leader of opposition has expressed under his time as a minister and in his earlier years. He is not the first man in the parliament that has expressed sexist thoughts and Julia Gillard does in her speech try to put an end to it. The gender equality is not very high in Australia and having been exposed to sexism herself, Julia Gillard felt that it was time to take a stand to defend herself and the women of Australia. By trying to get the men to understand that sexism is not acceptable and that something has to be done about it. An equal society is something that everyone should have the right to live in and with Julia Gillard at the helm the Australians might get to experience that.

Julia Gillard starts of her speech by making it very clear what she is trying to communicate by saying  ‘’ I say to the Leader of the Opposition I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man. I will not. And the Government will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man. Not now, not ever’’. Personally I think that this is very cleaver as you get an idea of what her main point is directly from the start. If she would have babbled about other things in the beginning it would have taken a while for her to get to the point, which would have lead to people getting bored and not actually listening as much when she finally introduces the main point. She starts of strong and continues like that for the entire speech. The main point that she is trying to communicate is that she will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by the leader of the opposition. Tony Abbott has under the time that he has been a minister expressed very sexist opinions about women in general but also opinions specifically targeted to Julia Gillard. This is not something that should occur within the walls of the parliament and Tony Abbott must realise that this cannot go on. The speech is mostly directed to the Leader of the Opposition which you can see as she also opens up her speech with ’’Thank you very much Deputy Speaker and I rise to oppose the motion moved by the Leader of the Opposition.’’ I also believe that Julia Gillard is trying to target men in general that are sexist as there have been many previous scandals regarding sexism in Australia.

The subject regards personal matter, which makes Julia Gillard act and speak from a very personal point of view. Tony Abbott is not the first man to offend her in sexist ways in the parliament, which you can see in her speech as she brings up past events regarding this. To sit in a parliament with men who does only see you as a piece of meat can make anyone as furious as her. As she wants to make her point as clear as possible she speaks in a very powerful way. Her tone of voice is very loud and clear and you can hear that she is very determined regarding the subject. I think that many people see her determinations and anger as very unprofessional as she is basically attacking one of the members of the parliament. I would rather say that this might be the only way for them to understand that sexism should not be accepted, especially not within the walls of the parliament. Sexism is far more unprofessional than Julia Gillard’s way of speaking. I’m sure that the house of parliament does not see her language as the most appropriate but how else would you get them to understand? She uses a proper language but sentences like ’’Because if he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror. That's what he needs’’ is not something that you would normally hear in a speech from a Prime Minister. To make her point clearer in the speech she uses a lot of logos. She quotes sexist comments that Tony Abbott has uttered and also uses a lot of facts from previous events. This makes you see who this man really is, which works very well to advantages of Julia Gillard.

The speech makes me as a woman very frustrated as I personally get very offended by Tony Abbott’s way of looking at women. The facts and quotes that Julia Gillard uses in her speech that Tony Abbott has expressed are extremely sexist and makes women appear as stupid human being that are only capable of doing the ironing and so on. This was probably the reaction that Julia Gillard wanted to get from the audience as the speech generates a lot of emotions. She uses pathos to her advantages by brining her own feelings