Young singer and actress, Zendaya Coleman has been promoting self-love and self-acceptance for some time now. She recently posted a picture collage to her instagram page in hope of not only reaching her fans but anyone who may need to hear what she has to say about the sensitive subject. She posted the picture with the caption “Just in case someone needed to hear it”.The collage has managed to be a trending topic online. However, it is not just the picture that is getting all the attention it’s the quote that she attaches to the collage. Her quote states “Nobody is ugly...that doesn’t exist. I say, take the time to get to know who you are. Take the time to love yourself and everything will be alright.”
Take a look at her picture below.
In Zendaya’s picture collage she doesn’t try to outscore her opponent (19).Instead she uses a more efficient technique by simply trying to get her way through the use of concession (20). Jay Heinrichs, author of Thank You For Arguing explains that concession is "conceding your opponent's point in order to win what you want". Zendaya exemplifies this tool as she starts off with a picture of her frowning with the phrase stating “Nobody’s ugly...that doesn’t exist.” She makes the possible argument of anyone thinking that they are unattractive sound absolutely ridiculous. With this part of the quote alone she reels in her audience and they will now be more open to what else she has to say.
Ethos plays a huge role in this encouraging collage of Zendaya’s. Heinrichs states that ethos "employs the persuader's personality, reputation, and ability to look trustworthy" (40). Being that Zendaya is a young celebrity this gives her more credibility and makes her more trustworthy among her audience. Most problems with body image exist with young women. Zendaya more than likely experienced trouble loving herself at some point in her life in order for her to even first address this subject.
This picture also has the ability to generate an array of emotion through its major use of pathos. Pathos can be described as "the sibling the others disrespect but the one who gets away with everything" according to Heinrichs (40). In the beginning you see Zendaya frowning with the words “Nobody is ugly...that doesn’t exist.” Of course this will allow the audience to have a sense of hope. In the end she is smiling and saying “Everything will be alright.” She strives to encourage and motivate her audience by eliciting positive emotions from her audience. She wants her audience to feel like they are beautiful. What better way to persuade your audience than with pathos?
In any argument you want to offer your audience a choice while making it clear that your argument is obviously the best choice. It is important to remember that "productive argument uses choice as the central issue" (37). With this picture collage, Zendaya gives her audience a choice. She states that “everything will be alright” but only if you take the time to love yourself. She is able to make her audience believe that they must love themselves in order for “everything to be alright.” Zendaya offers her audience a candid solution- if the audience wants “everything to be alright” they will choose to take the time and love themselves. Zendaya She makes it seem so simple right?
Ultimately, I believe that this quote and picture collage can be extremely effective especially with the young crowd. This may just seem like a simple picture but Zendaya strategically uses her wit to encourage her audience. In my opinion we need to hear more celebrities addressing this topic. As young women we often look up to our favorite celebrities for influence and sometimes we aren't always influenced in the right way. In today's society we have so many photo shopped and modified pictures of celebrities that we began to feel that we have to look that way. This is the reason why it is so critical that as young women we see more promotion of self-love and self-acceptance through our most celebrated celebrities. So what do you say? Are you tired of seeing unrealistic photos of celebrities? Don't you think its time we see more women beginning to feel comfortable in their own skin including celebrities?