Joseph Martino

Mrs. Ferrara

English 100

March 24th, 2020

Rhetorical Analysis Colin Stokes

The idea of gender roles has been a pressing issue in the modern world. When people

hear about gender roles, they think of typical stereotypes, such as how women in contemporary

society are portrayed. Are women supposed to be housewives who do not have jobs but take care

of the kids? Are they supposed to be the caretakers in the relationship? These arguments have

been fought for many years as they are either outdated or just a fallacy in modern society.

However, there are not many arguments about how gender roles are formed at a young age due

to mass media. In Colin Stokes TED Talk: How movies teach manhood, Stokes brings up these

stereotypes, and he uses rhetoric to argue his case in a fluid and concise way.

Colin Stokes uses rhetoric through his TED Talk while using ethos, pathos, and logos to

sway his audience. Stokes starts his TED Talk cleverly with a story about him and his daughter

watching the Wizard of Oz together for the first time. He explains how his daughter had become

obsessed with the character Glenda because “Who does not want a big sparkly pink dress yet be

someone who is still able to get things done?” Stokes loved the idea of the symbolism a strong

independent woman was being portrayed to his daughter at such a young age. Stokes then

touches on the fact that Dorothy was also a normal girl who was the hero of the story, which also

reinsured the idea that women are strong even if they are not a princess. However, when Stokes

had a son, he realized that women in the stories were only strong when it came to war, while men
were always seen as strong and stoic only when fighting for the girl and winning. When his son

turned three years old, they started to watch Star Wars, which his son instantly fell in love with

the Franchise, being costumes and merchandise. Stokes then asks the audience in a joking tone if

they thought his son liked it so much because he was picking up on the act of rebellion to

overthrow a political regime, or maybe it was the cool costumes and creatures? Stokes was

disappointed that his son had no role models in his movies compared to his daughter, who has

strong female characters. Stokes’ talk was centered on pathos or the emotions that his children

can bring out of the audience. Through the use of personal anecdotes and sarcastic questions, he

swayed the audience to drop their guard and see him as a dad, not as a speaker. He knew his

audience mostly consisted of parents and hit the topic, which is that every parent wants the best

for their kids in all aspects of life, whether they be male or female.

In Stokes TED Talk, he does not just use personal anecdotes but facts to support his

argument about how many women are shown in Pixar movies compared to Disney movies, and

how they are portrayed in the film. Stoke uses the Bechdel test; this test refers to three major

questions to ask when you are watching any movie to find out if gender is equal throughout the

film. The first question, does it have at least two women in the film? Second question, do these

women talk to each other throughout the film? The last question, do these women talk about

something besides men? He uses the Bechdel test to prove logical reasoning on why the topic of

gender roles in mass media is a pressing issue. He also uses this test to represent the topic

numerically as people follow statistics easier and have a measuring system to prove his point.

Stokes then brings up the top hundred films in 2011 to prove his point that women are not

portrayed enough in the media. Stokes states, “Eleven movies.” Stokes then dives into more

statistics that set the mood of the portion of the talk.

Stokes brings up the fact that one out of every five women is sexually assaulted. Stokes then

projects a question to the audience, “why wouldn't he want to try to change society's way of

thinking in order to protect his little girl ?” Stokes engages the audience very well here, hitting

them in their heartstrings as stated before because most of the audience were parents on their

own. Stokes's use of logos or logic to show why the topic of women's portrayal in mass media is

essential to society. He does this through the use of the Bechel test and the many other statics he

uses during his TED Talk. After using all the statistics, he gives the audience a clear way to solve

the problem of mass media and the portrayal of women. Stokes brings up the idea of teaching

young boys "manpower." However, it is not the typical manpower that the audience thinks when

they hear the word manpower.

When Stokes uses the term “manpower,” he means that boys do not always have to be

dominant or heroic; women are their equals and that boys must respect that women can be strong

and have kind hearts. He touches on the fact that we can try to instill the fact into children but the

reinforcement by movies. Colin Stokes touches on the fact that if movies show not only powerful

men but also women as the main character, it would be easier to explain the correct gender roles

to boys and girls. HE wants more movies to have compassionate men that help the woman who

is influential in her own right and is not an adversary or the man she is trying to chase to end up

falling in love. The type of “manpower” Stokes is bringing up is what every parent wants to

instill into their kids as it shows them it is okay not to win all the time. More importantly, show

that courage and loyalty are more important aspects than saving the girl who is stuck in the

castle. Stokes brings the phrase “manpower” to show that movies that make women sit on the

sidelines as the men adventure and save the damsel in distress are not how modern society is

shaping to be. Stokes then brings up the movie Frozen and how it does show modern society as
the men are working with the female roles in the film instead of doing every for their female

counterparts. Stokes uses this section of the speech to show his character or to prove his ethos.

Stokes is not a filmmaker or a critic, but he is a common man and father who wants the best for

his children. This connects with the audience as it is filled with parents and people who are older.

The use of this rhetoric helps him win over the crowd as they do not see him as an opposing

figure but rather someone who wants the best for them and their kids.

Stokes’ TED Talk brings a pressing manner of gender roles in mass media; Stoke uses

pathos, logos, and ethos to sway his audience to understand why the topic is essential to talk

about. Through personal anecdotes, statistics, and making himself a common man helped give

him the outcome he was trying to get out of his audience, which was to sway their opinion on the

role that mass media plays in their children's lives. As Stoke finished his speech, he thanked the

audience for listening to him, and the audience fell in love with what Colin Stokes was saying as

they gave him a standing ovation.