The purpose of the study was to present a rhetorical analysis of selected Women’s Liberation addresses of Gloria Steinem delivered in two distinctly different audience situations. The study was divided into chapters dealing with the historical development of the Women’s Liberation Movement and the status of the movement in the 1970’s; a biography of the speaker, including Steinem’s personal philosophy concerning Women’s Liberation; the analysis of Steinem’s 1970 Vassar College Commencement Address; and an analysis of Steinem’s 1972 National Press Club Address.The method of analysis employed in the study is the strategy approach advanced by Kenneth Burke. The method involved a four-fold analysis: (1) the historical context in which the speech was delivered; (2) the rhetorical problems Steinem faced in each address; (3) the rhetorical goals Steinem wished to achieve; (4) the rhetorical strategies selected to overcome the rhetorical problems and achieve her rhetorical goals.

The purpose of this study has been to analyze the rhetoric of Gloria Steinem in order to determine how she uses identification in her attempts to unify the members of the Women's Liberation Movement and to enlist the cooperation of others outside the movement.

The purpose of this study has been to analyze the rhetoric of Gloria Steinem in order to determine how she uses identification in her attempts to unify the members of the Women's Liberation Movement and to enlist the cooperation of others outside the movement. The rhetorical theory and concepts of identification and consubstantiality developed by Kenneth Burke, literary and rhetorical critic, have been used in this study. The representative examples of Steinem's rhetoric which have been analyzed include a speech made at Southern Methodist University on February 3, 1972, Steinem's feature article "Sisterhood," which was published in the 1972 Spring Preview Issue of Ms. magazine, and a speech made by Steinem at the opening session of the National Women's Political Caucus in Houston, Texas, on February 9, 1973. This study has revealed Gloria Steinem to be, during the years from 1967 until the present time, a vital spokeswoman for the Women's Liberation Movement. The means through which Steinem chose to combat the oppression of women was rhetoric. The three examples of Steinem's rhetoric analyzed in this study indicate that her basic premise concerns the long-standing subjugation and exploitation of women by the ruling class -- white males.