Once upon a time...

Link to TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/aspen_baker_a_better_way_to_talk_about_abortion?language=en

The TED Talk that I chose to watch was about "a better way to talk about abortion." However, Aspen Baker does not limit her approach to solely be applicable for abortion, she states that her innovative "pro-voice" method and stance can be extended to encompass many different debatable, polarizing, and political issues and controversies. Pro-voice is a better alternative to "pro-life" or "pro-choice," positions that force women to choose a side, and encourages conversation and talking, rather than fighting. The two major components of pro-voice practice, as described by Baker, are listening and storytelling. Together, these two active ingredients blend to create a culture and a society that values what makes us special and unique, and what makes us human. This way of thinking allows us to see our differences with respect instead of fear. Our experiences exist on a spectrum and are not defined by our single right or wrong decisions.

Side note, these ideas about embracing our differences and realizing just how much our memories shape who we are parallel almost exactly with the main points that we will be covering in our new unit, Never Let Me Go. The novel tells a story that emphasizes the impact that our relationships that we had growing up will have on us for the rest of our lives, and how, although each and every one of us will remember specific conversations and moments differently, we carry them with us and they shape who we are - what makes us unique and special. Just the same, the pro-voice stance also creates a culture that values what makes us special.

The purpose of this TED Talk is to not only inform and educate the audience about the pro-voice stance and the importance of sharing stories and experiences, but also to convince all to adopt this position eventually. Baker wants to shift the focus away from that of society, particularly politics - the idea that all debatable issues have two opposing arguments and individuals must choose a side to fight for, and on to this new perspective - the idea that instead of two polarized opposites, our experiences truly exist on a spectrum and that we should embrace that fact and therefore embrace our differences as humans.

Because Baker personally has experienced what she is speaking about in her Talk, - she has had an abortion - she is a very credible source of information, which plays on ethos, or ethical appeal. She only developed this new way of thinking because she went through it all herself and was actually forced to face the challenges that she describes. When she found out that she was pregnant, she explains that she did not know what to do, "how to decide," or "what criteria [to] use." She describes her background and the circumstances that she grew up in - everyone in her family was pro-life, so abortion always seemed out of the question to her. Her friend Polly enlightened her about the fact that she was not alone and that abortion is something we can talk about. For all of these reasons, Baker is a very credible speaker and she uses those personal accounts and experiences of hers to get her point across.

The use of logos, or a logical appeal, in this TED Talk can be analyzed by looking at the strengths and weaknesses in Baker's argument, her supporting evidence, and her reasoning. Some pros are that she uses her personal experiences to not just inform, but to justify and explain the claims that she is making. For example, because she has had an abortion of her own, she can rightly say that the dialogue around abortion is "political and polarizing." She has personally felt the damaging effects of this societal norm and therefore her opinion is reinforced. However, some weaknesses in the logic of her argument revolve around her lack of concessions to counterarguments - she fails to acknowledge to a great enough extent the opinions that her opponents have and specifically rebut them. Doing so may have strengthened her argument and made her use of logos more effective. Although Baker does recognize the two current stances on abortion, pro-life and pro-choice, the farthest she goes in discussing, let alone rebutting, them is saying that "There is a gap. Between what happens in politics and what happens in real life, and in that gap, a battlefield mentality." If she had provided examples for the counterarguments, or given statistics to discount what they support, her presentation would have been a lot stronger, overall.

Finally, Aspen Baker's use of pathos plays a large role in her TED Talk. Naturally, emotion will be evoked from the audience through her speech simply because the topic at hand, abortion, is a very touchy subject that many people have extremely strong, unrelenting, adamant opinions about. But, there are also intentional attempts made by Baker to make her audience members emotional, such as her deliberate use of loaded language. She uses words like "God," "abortion," "incarceration," and "sexuality." These words hold a lot more meaning, for a lot of people, than their literal definitions and therefore evoke an emotional response - they trigger deeper feelings for many. Baker also utilizes an effective sentence structure in which she, in a way, comes right out and says something before you expect it. For example, she says, " 'I'm pregnant. Not sure what I'm going to do yet,' I told Polly." A more common, orthodox way to structure this would have been to switch the two parts and have the "I told Polly" come before the dialogue quotation. But, by instead employing this arrangement, Baker surprises the audience, for one does not truly comprehend what she is saying until the whole sentence has been said. Another example of this comes when she is describing her childhood, her past, and the conditions in which she grew up - she says, "As a kid, the idea of abortion made me so sad that I knew if I ever got pregnant I could never have one. And then I did." The "And then I did" comes out of nowhere. We expect her, rather, to go on illustrating her family and her ways of thinking growing up. These calculated choices strike the audience hard and tug at their heart strings, and I think this is an extremely effective strategy.

I picked this TED Talk mostly because of the title - "A better way to talk about abortion." Abortion is a very interesting topic to me, especially because of how relevant and current it is right now. Although it is intriguing, it is also very frustrating, and anything that suggests a better approach to it is very appealing to me. This Talk made me realize so many things that I actually believe, but that I just was not aware of - Baker truly achieved her aim, in my case, because she convinced me that pro-voice is the best way to go. All I knew going into this video was that I definitely was not satisfied with the direction that abortion discussions and debates are going in (Planned Parenthood shootings, etc. are a big red flag that something is seriously wrong here) and this TED Talk by Aspen Baker made me realize what the actual problem is - the approach that we are taking. I am so glad that I chose this Talk in particular because it worked wonders on me :-)

https://tedcdnpi-a.akamaihd.net/r/tedcdnpe-a.akamaihd.net/images/ted/17755dc1be70bacbcedc8522d95e374acd129bed_2880x1620.jpg?ll=1&quality=89&w=800