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POTTYMOUTHEDPRINCESSES

ThePottyMouthedPrincesses
ENGL111615
Team3
UniversityofAlaskaAnchorage
NOV4,2014

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POTTYMOUTHEDPRINCESSES

Arguablythemostinfluentialformofliteracyinoursocietyismedia.Inourhomeswe

areconstantlybombardedwithadvertisementsinourtelevisionandcomputer,sometimesitfeels
asifthereismorecommercialtimeonTVthanactualshows,andwhenwenavigatethrough
websiteswecanfindalmost50%ofthepagespacededicatedstrictlytoadvertisement.Itdoesnt
stophereadsareeverywhere,ontheradio,onbillboardsandsigns,andevenonourpersonal
cellphones.Asasocietyweareexposedtomediasomuchthatmostofitdoesntreallystick.
Everydaywerunbydozensofadsandattheendofthedayweprobablycantevenremember
halfofthem.Inorderforanadvertisementtobememorable,thisformofliteracyhastoconnect
withitsaudience.Therearethreemainideasthatidentifythewayawriterpersuades,targets,
andinfluencestheirreaders,orinthiscase,theirviewers.
ThesethreeliteracyconceptsareknownasEthos,Logos,andPathos.Theuseofthe
literacyconceptsinthemediaisaverycommonpracticeinoursociety.Althoughitisavery
effectivetoolofpersuasion,whenusedtotheextremeitcanbefallacioustotheargumentand
offensivetotheaudience.TodemonstratethefallaciesinvolvedintheuseofEthos,Logos,and
Pathos,wewillrhetoricallyandcriticallyanalyzeFCKH8svideotitledFBombsfor
Feminism(2014).FCKH8isaclothingcompanythatisknownformakingcontroversialvideos
inordertopromotetheirmerchandisealongwiththeirviewsofsocialequality.Thisspecific
excerptdepictsmultiplefivetothirteenyearoldgirlsyellingobscenewordsinordertoshockthe
audienceintopayingattentiontotheirmessage.Atonepointinthevideo(FCKH82014),the
girlscomparetheiruseofvulgarlanguagetotheirviewonthefeministwaysofsociety,So
whatismoreoffensive?Alittlegirlsayingfuck?Orthefuckingunequalandsexistwayssociety
treatsgirlsandwomen?

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ThevideocreatedbyFCKH8immediatelyreceivedfeedbackfrominternetusersall
aroundtheworld.Somepeoplesupportedthevideoanditsunusual,tosaytheleast,approachto
aproblem,butmostwereappalledbywhattheyreferredtoasbadparenting..Ifyouanalyzethe
videowiththefallaciesofEthos,Logos,andPathosinmindyouquicklyrealizethatthisisa
casewheretheyabuseditspersuasivepowersandcreatedanegativeeffectonthemajorityofits
viewers.
Ethos,beingarhetoricaltacticusedtopersuadeanaudience,is
directly

establishedinthe
videobyutilizingyounggirlsasmaincharacters.Sincethemainfocusofthevideoisfeminism
andtheargumentisthatthereisntequalitybetweenwomenandmen,theaudienceisattracted
bythefactthatgirlsofsuchayoungageareadvocatingontheseissues.Theyempowertheir
genderbyspeakinginfirmandactivevoicescommunicatingasenseofpower.Inthevideo,they
(FCKH82014)
talkaboutfeminisminsocietynowsotheycanfixtheirownfutures.For
example,theyclaim,Itsourfuture,solistenupgrownups!Thisstatementcapturesthe
attentionoftheaudienceandinclinesthemtoactuallylistentowhattheseyounggirlshaveto
say.Atonepointinthevideo,oneofthegirlssays,Imprettyfuckingpowerfulandreadyfor
success.Theyportraysometypeofauthoritybecausetheytalkabouthowbeingraisedina
sexistsocietyaffectstheirownlifeinanegativeway.
Inaddition,FCKH8intentionallydisplaystheseyounggirlswithprettypinkdresses,
shiningtiaras,makeup,andjewelryforapurpose.Thepurposeistoemphasizethecourteousness
ofaprincess,butintheendshockingtheaudiencewiththeirprofanelanguageusedtomake
theirpoints.Theethicaldilemmaregardingthisvideoisthatideally,younggirlsshouldntbe
cursinginsuchamanner,especiallysincetheyarejustchildren.However,theeffectivenessof

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POTTYMOUTHEDPRINCESSES

thisvideoisstronglyexecutedwiththisstrategy.Asforthecontentinthevideo,allthefacts
regardingsexismandrapeinfluencetheaudiencetorelyonwhattheyaresaying.
Moreover,
sinceFCKH8isaforprofitcharitybasedcompanythereisanethicaladvantagebecausesome
maysupportthemovementsimplybecausethecompanyissellingtheirtshirtsforagoodcause.
Inrealitythisvideousesanobviousfallacyknownas
falseauthority
.
Falseauthority
is
definedastryingtopersuadeanaudiencebyshowcasingafigurethathasnoexpertiseonthe
specificarea.FCKH8implementedfalseauthorityinthisvideobyagainusingtheseyounggirls
astheirpuppetsandpracticallytellingthemwhatfactstosaytoproveandsupporttheirpoint.
Althoughthevideowaseffectiveinthesensethattheyaccomplishedgettingtheirpointacross
andbydoingsocapturedtheattentionofmany,inrealitytheseyounggirlsarenotentirely
qualifiedonthistopic.Thevideowouldhavebeenconsideredmorecredibleifitwereadults
talkingaboutthesexistissuesratherthantheseyounggirls.Furthermore,inefforttoeasily
convincetheaudience,FCKH8purposelyappliesanotherfallacyknownas
poisoningthewell
.
ThedetrimentalfactsmentionedinthisvideoaccordingtothearticlesThereIsNo
MaleFemaleWageGapbyCarrieLukasandthearticleandNo,1in5WomenHaveNot
beenRapedonCollegeCampusesbyAsheSchow,proveshowinaccuratetheinformationset
forthisandclearlyexposeshowFCKH8attemptstomanipulatetheaudienceinpresenting
distortedfacts.Thisresultsinthesefallaciesharmingtheaditself.
Logosisanothertypeofrhetoricaltacticthatthevideoutilizestoinfluencethe
audiencesfeelingsorintentionsbystatingfactsandstatisticstoempowertheirclaim.Although
bothfactsandstatisticsseemlikealogicalwaytoinfluencetheaudiencesperceptionofthe

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POTTYMOUTHEDPRINCESSES

messageorargument,therearenumerousfallaciesthatmaybeintertwinedandabusedwithinthe
mediawithoutanyobvioussignsoffalseresearch.

FCKH8sternlyabusesthefallaciesofLogosbyincorporatinginaccuratestatisticsto

swaytheaudiencesimpressiononsocietysactionstowardsfeminism.Asidefromtheyoung
girlsdiscourteouslanguageandsassyfingerscapturingtheattentionoftheviewers,the
statisticsthattheypresenthelpemphasizetheirargumentabouttheirviewsonfeminism.FCKH8
applies
falsedilemma
,afallacythatdealswithforcingthereadertoacceptaconclusionwithtwo
extremeoptionsthathaveinadequateevidence.Withoutanysolidresearchorproof,theyoung
girlsinthevideo
(FCKH8,2014)
explainthat1outof5girlsaresexuallyassaulted,whenin
reality,thatstatisticisnotuptodatenorisitaccurate.Theyemphasizethisstatisticby
displayingthefiveyounggirlsoneatatimeastheyasktheaudiencedirectly,Whichoneofus
willitbe?Thistypeoffalsestatisticwillmakeanyindividualcringethinkingthatoneofthese
younggirlswillberapedatsomepointintheirlifetime.FCKH8slylyproceedstointroducethe
optionsthatsocietyshouldnot,teachgirlshowtodress,butinstead,teachboysnottorape.
Theyuseatwistinwordstoinfluencetheviewersthoughtsbecauseinreality,whoreally
teachesboystorapetobeginwith?
Totakethingsfurther,FCKH8applies
hastygeneralizations
,anotherfallacy,thatusesa
quickandbroadstatementwithtoolittleevidence.Thisoccurswhenthepromotersreacha
conclusiononthebasisofinsufficientevidence.Thevideofailstoprovidesolidevidenceto
supporttheirclaimsastheyounggirlshastilygeneralizethatwomenhavelowersalariesthan
meneveniftheyachieveanAaveragewhilethemenachieveaCaverage.Accordingtothe
articlebyCarrieLukas,
recentstudieshaveshownthatthewagegapshrinksoreven

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POTTYMOUTHEDPRINCESSES

reverseswhenrelevantfactorsaretakenintoaccountandcomparisonsaremadebetweenmen
andwomeninsimilarcircumstances.Inthevideo,thegirlsmakea
sweepinggeneralization
that
societyismoreconcernedaboutthesizeofawomansbodyandnotthesizeoftheirbrain,
althoughtherearemanyfactstodisprovetheideaofagenderwagegap.TheclaimsthatFCKH8
endorsesprovidelittleevidence.Theydontcareaboutthesolidproofwhichregardstoanother
fallacy
stackingthedeck
.Thegeneralizationsarenotsupportedbyevidenceandarebeing
abusivelyignoredbecausethemaingoalistotietheaudienceinwiththeirviewsand
merchandise.
Alongthelinesofhavingfalsestatisticsandinadequateevidence,thisvideoadvocates
severalclaimsthatdonotfollowreasonablyfromitspremisesandissupportedwith
inappropriateproofwhichisthetechniqueof
nonsequitur
.Thisvideoadvocatesthatmenwho
receiveCsgetpaidmorethanwomenwhoreceiveAseveniftheyaredoingthesametypeof
work.Thisisanexampleof
nonsequitur
astheyounggirlinFCKH8svideocomplains,Bad
gradesequalmorebank?!Justbecauseyoureaboy?!FCKH8failstointegratereasonable
proofthatexplainswhymenseemtogetpaidmorethanwomenforthesametypeof
employmenttheyhastilyjumpintoaconclusionthatmengetpaidmorethanwomenjust
becausetheyaremen.AccordingtothePoliticalScienceonFeminismvs.Truthtaughtby
ChristinaSommersfromPragerUniversity,thisfalsegeneralizationofthepaygapbetweenmen
andwomenisrepeatedoften,...butitdoesnotaccountfordifferencesinoccupations,
education,positions,jobtenure,andhoursworkedperweek.Withdataandthoroughresearch,
itissaidthatwomenaremorelikelytoenterjobfieldsthatpaylessthanmenandaremorelikely

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POTTYMOUTHEDPRINCESSES

toworkparttimebecausetheywanttospendtimewiththeirfamily.Withthatsaid,FCKH8
abusesthefallacyofLogosforthesakeofluringtheaudiencein.
Bytheheavyshockfactor,andthenumerousfbombsdropped,thereislessfocusinthis
videoonthemessageofmenandwomengettingequalrights,andmorefocusontheshock
factorofelementaryagedgirlsusinginappropriatelanguage.Thisvideoabusesthetechniquesof
Pathosbyfocusingontheemotionsofshock,surprise,andevenanger.Thevideoistryingto
catchyouoffguard,anditdoes.Itmovestheviewer,notnecessarilypositively,intolistening
andwantingtocontinuewatching.
Thevulgarlanguageusedbythegirlsnotonlystirsupshockandsurprise,butangeras
well.Bytheiruseoffoullanguage,sassyattitudes,andevidencelackingstatements,this
movementmakesanattempttosupportfeminismbutseemstoonlysupportpottymouthedgirls
withpoorattitudes.Throughtheuseofshockinglanguage,itissupportingandsuggesting,that
women
(FCKH8,2014)
canbestrong,Imprettyfuckingpowerfulbutinthiscasepoweris
mistakenforlanguageandisusedasanemotionaltooltogetapointacross.
Asstatedearlier,atonepointinthevideothegirlsmaketheclaimthatoneinfivegirls
willberapedintheirlifetimeandtakethestatisticevenfurtherbyimplyingoneofthefivegirls
picturedwillbeavictim.Thisisclearlyanattempttodrawemotionfromtheviewerandisan
appealtofear
.Thebroadstatementimpliesthattheraperatewillreduceifsocietywereto
cleanupitsact.Theclaim,iftakenatfacevalue,canbesuccessfulatdrawingviewersinand
persuadingthemtobelieveinthevideoscause.
Theideaoftheviewercarelesslybelievingintheseideaswithoutanyfurtherresearch
directlyrelatestothefallacyofanappealtoignorance.Thegirlspromotetheideathatwomen

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areincrediblyrepressed,butthatisnotthecase.Althoughtheviewermayormaynotbelieveit
despitedirectevidence,womencandoanythingthatamancando.Theyalsousestatisticsthat
weredebunked,inhopesofhavingtheirinaccuraciesslidebyandgounnoticed.
Mostofthecommentsonthevideowereincongruent.Themajorityoftheviewersthat
commentedfeltthatthevideowasinappropriateandmisused,althoughtheyagreedwiththe
messageofequalrights.Someofthecommentsfromthevideowebsiterangedfrom,Thisis
nothowprincessesshouldtalk,and,Usingimpressionablechildrenaspuppets?Thats
pathetic!Mostpeoplefoundthefoullanguageusedbyprepubescentgirlstobeadistraction
fromthemessagetheyweretryingtorelay.
Thevideoiseffectiveinthewaythatitmakestheviewerthinkandkeepstheirattention,
butdoesnotsupportitsowncause.Bytheuseoftheiraudaciousattitudesandmouthylanguage,
theyareshowingfemalestrengthandfeminismbyactingandspeakinginappropriately.Women
shouldnotgettheirstrengthbybeingshockingorvulgar,theyshouldfostertheirstrengthfrom
gettingtheireducationsandbynotlettingsocietyoppressthem.Pathosiseffectivebecause
humansstriveoffofemotion.Thisvideotriestoplayoffofouremotionsbybeingloudand
buoyantandtryingtogettheattentionoftheaudience,orastheysay,society.
Inaworldrevolvingaroundmediaitisnotabnormaltocomeacrossadvertisementsthat
takeadvantageofthelistenerssenses.Ethos,Pathos,andLogosarecommonlyusedwithinall
formsofmedialiteracytocatchandmoldattention.Whenusedcorrectly,theseliteracy
conceptscanhelpcreateandimproveanadvertisementormessage.FCKH8svideoisan
exampleofmisapplicationoftheliteracyfallacies.Thefallacieswereexecutedproperly,but
theydidnotaffecttheirargumentinapositivemanner.

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POTTYMOUTHEDPRINCESSES

Theadvertisementusesethosbypresentingyounggirlsandgivingthemasenseof

authoritythatcatchestheaudiencesattention.Theuseof
falseauthority
maskstheimmaturity
ofachildwiththeimageofsomeoneknowledgeableonthesubjectmatter.Itmayseemlikethe
younggirlsknowalot,butinrealitythefactsandinformationwerelackingandcredibilitywas
faulty.Theactorsalsotrytowinovertheaudiencebystatingstrongheadturningfacts.Usually,
LogosinthisformisveryeffectiveandgenerallyhelpssupportstheargumentbutFCKH8s
factsaresostretchedoutandunreliablethatitnegativelyimpactstheircase.Thevideoalsouses
Pathoswheninvokingfeelingsofshock,surprise,andanger.Whenthelittlegirlsdropthe
Fbomb,itshockstheaudience,butnotinagoodway.Althoughitmanagestocatchthe
attentionoftheviewers,itleavesthemwithabadaftertasteofpoorparenting.Whenitcomes
downtoittheiradvertisementwasntcredible,theirshockfactorhadanegativeimpact,and
theinformationgivenalongwiththevideowasfarfromaccurate.Thecommercialwasnot
effectiveduetothepoorexecutionandmisuseoftheliteracyfallacies.Regardlessofthepositive
causethatFCKH8istryingtosupport,theiruseoftherhetoricalstrategiesultimatelyfailsand
onlydistractsanddisguststheaudience.FCKH8shouldconsidertofurthertheirmessageonthe
societyinwhichtheyaretryingtoimprovebyeliminatingthenegativeeffectsthatwere
introducedbyinappropriatelanguageandfalseinformation.

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References

FCKH8.com.(2014,October21).
FBombsforFeminism:PottymouthedPrincessesUse
BadWordforGoodCause
from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqHYzYn3WZw
Graff,G.,&Birkenstein,C.(2010).
Theysay/Isay:Themovesthatmatterinacademic
writing
(2nded.).NewYork:W.W.Norton&.
Lukas,C.(2011,April12).ThereIsNoMaleFemaleWageGap.RetrievedNovember3,
2014,from
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704415104576250672504707048
Lunsford,A.(2012).APAFormat.In
Everyone'sanauthor
.NewYork:W.W.Norton
and.
Schow,A.(2014,August13).No,1in5womenhavenotbeenrapedoncollege
campuses|WashingtonExaminer.com.RetrievedNovember3,2014,from
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/no1in5womenhavenotbeenrapedoncollegecampus
es/article/2551980
Sommers,C.(2014,September22).Feminismvs.Truth.RetrievedNovember3,2014,
from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oqyrflOQFc
UnknownAuthor,
TheFallaciesofEthos.
UnknownAuthor,
TheFallaciesofLogos.
UnknownAuthor,
TheFallaciesofPathos.