Rep.

Ocasio- Cortez's Response to

Rep. Yoho: A Short Critique
On July 23, 2020, Representative Ocasio-Cortez took the House floor to speak
about sexism and verbal abuse. Her words came after Representative Yoho accosted
her on the Capitol steps and called her a vulgar insult. In her speech, Aristotelian
qualities are reflected in her rhetorical style. Aristotle defined rhetoric as the ability
to see in any case the available means of persuasion (Beebe & Beebe, 2016). In her
case, she observed a pattern of how some men mistreat or disrespect her and other
women without impunity. She saw her experiences as an available means of
persuasion, urging her to speak on the house floor. Her speech is a combination of
forensic and epideictic rhetoric. Nordquist (2009) defined forensic rhetoric as a
speech that focuses on determining whether a past action, accusation, or charge is
right or wrong and just or unjust; this is evident in her speech. For instance, she
expressed that Rep. Yoho’s remarks towards her are wrong, cruel, and rude. She also
deprecates Congress’ acceptance of Rep. Yoho’s excuse as legitimate. With this, we
can deduce that her speech is forensic. Epideictic rhetoric is concerned with
commending or blaming a person, thing, or event (Nordquist, 2009). For instance, in
her speech, she’s somewhat criticizing and blaming Rep. Yoho for his verbal abuse
towards her and how his action permits other men to do it to his daughters. This
example also reflects her effective use of pathos in her speech. She was able to
incorporate pathos throughout her speech. For instance, she revealed that she
experienced verbal abuse from men multiple times and that other women also
experience it. Her use of pathos is also evident when she mentioned how she’s also
someone’s daughter and how painful it is for her parents to see her just being
verbally abused by men. She was also able to use ethos and logos in her speech. In
her speech, she mentioned that she’s a congresswoman that represents New York’s
14th district and her fellow congresswoman. She also expressed her concern and
sympathy for other women who also experience verbal abuse or sexism. Thus, she
was able to establish her credibility as a speaker or rhetor. She concluded that:
verbal abuse and sexism are cultural issues; doing it is no different than permitting
other men to do it to his wife and daughter; having power or family does not make a
decent man. She supported her conclusions with evidence and reasoning; thus,
effectively using logos. Lastly, her final statement is the statement that appealed to
me the most. I agree that being a respectful, decent man is not derived from being
powerful, married, or having daughters. The wrong perception of men contributes to
them doing such degrading remarks (Nicholles, 2016), which is why it’s important
to educate boys at a young age to shape and positively impact their attitude towards
the people around them (Coulson, 2020). At the end of the day, being respectful is a
personal choice, which I hope we practice.

References:
Beebe, S.A. & Beebe, S.J. (2016). Public speaking handbook (5th ed., pp. 348-349).
Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Nicholles, N. (2016, January 5). Respecting women cannot be a rule, but surely it
can be a responsibility. The RSA. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from
https://www.thersa.org/blog/2016/01/respecting-women-cannot-be-a-rule-but-
surely-it-can-be-a-responsibility.
Nordquist, Richard (2009). An Overview of Classical Rhetoric Origins, Branches,
Canons and Concepts in ThoughtCo. Retrieved from:
https://www.thoughtco.com/overview-of-classicalrhetoric-1691820
NowThis News. (2020, July 23). Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's full response to
Rep. Ted Yoho [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Q3Xjv03Qrtc