The end of Women's History Month

Throughout history, months have been appointed to celebrate certain minorities whether they be African-American, Jewish, or women, as a sort of retribution for past hardships.  In her article for The Atlantic, Karen Swallow Prior, English professor and author of many articles about gender equality for The Atlantic, speaks against the perils of having whole months (such as Women’s history month) dedicated to particular groups of people.  Throughout the article Prior repeatedly used similes and metaphors to add emphasis to her point.  For example, she wrote “the recognition by Congress in 1987 of Women's History Month and its continued proclamation by the President each year since 1995 seems, next to such a vigorous text, like the tail trying limply to wag the dog,” in reference to the presidential acknowledgement to Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s speech Declaration of Sentiment.  The use of this simile highlights the difference between Cady Stanton’s profound words and the recognition it is given each year in the same tired old speeches.  It also shows how lame the presidential nod towards women’s rights is because a tail cannot wag a dog, the dog must wag the tail.  This had the effect of causing the reader to see her viewpoint: while acknowledging the rich history of women is important, it is also important not to acknowledge it in through same boring routine each year.   Prior also used many sarcastic quotes throughout her piece.  In one instance she wrote “Celebrations of Women's History Month seem to be slouching toward banality. Consider one organization's ‘theme’”  The quotes around the word theme pointed out how silly the idea of creating a theme for women’s history is and was further emphasized by the parenthetical comment “(what? is this a baby shower?)”  Through the use of quotes Prior continued to support the idea that the history of women is beyond redundant speeches, beyond insipid themes, beyond confining months.  Prior’s article proved to be a very effective rhetor on the topic of Women’s history month through particular stylistic choices.

Why You're not Married

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-mcmillan/why-youre-not-married_b_822088.html

Feminism: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.  Or, as it was so charmingly defined on Urban Dictionary, A wonderful ideology that depraved misogynists love to hate.  In the article “Why You’re not Married” by Tracy McMillan, t.v writer for programs such as The United States of Tara and Mad Men, the topic of feminism was interwoven into her argument for why women have a hard time finding good men and, more specifically, getting married.  McMillan is uniquely unqualified and unqualified to speak on this subject.  As a woman and human being she is perfectly capable of speaking on feminism and marriage.  On the other hand, as she admitted herself in the article, she has been married three times and is now offering up her wisdom on what will help other women find lasting love.  This article most likely appealed to conservative women and men who consider themselves “nice guys.”  However, many feminists created an uproar over this article and its coverage on Fox News.  This is because her article was so abrasive and rhetorically ineffective that it was seen as offensive and misogynistic rather than the helpful advice she intended it to be.  To make her argument clear and easy to follow, McMillan listed her reasons for why many women can’t find a man to marry.  Incidentally, it was while reading over this list many women decided almost immediately this article was not worth their time.  Each point was more offensive than the last.  1) You’re a b***h.  2) You’re shallow.  3) You’re a sl*t.  4) You’re a liar.  5) You’re selfish.  6) You’re not good enough.  This kind of language was intended to arouse a feeling of intimacy with the reader by using language people use at home with their friends and to make McMillan appear honest and open.  Her “honesty” merely came off as insolence.  Throughout the article she made comments that cause the reader to become angry rather than persuaded like for instance when she wrote “I don't think that [you’re not good enough]. You do...because you're not looking for a partner who is your equal…you want someone better than you are.”  Amazingly, McMillan managed to be both rude and presumptuous in this one instance.  First off by claiming that women are constantly searching for men that are out of their league and secondly by stating that I don’t think I’m not good enough.  Throughout her article McMillan was out of line, which made it difficult to stomach, let alone agree with, her argument.

Teenage Girl Blossoms into Beautiful Object

http://www.theonion.com/articles/teenage-girl-blossoming-into-beautiful-object,31061/?ref=auto

The Onion strikes again.  In an article this past January, the satirical writers at the Onion produced another satirical masterpiece: “Teenage Girl Blossoms into Beautiful Object.”  This time, their pointed wit took aim at the literal objectification of young women.  The Onion has a longtime standing platform as a satirical webzine that exposes social issues without ever directly addressing the problem or a solution.  The goal of this article, to remark on society’s behavior toward young women, was achieved predominantly through diction.  Every word chosen distanced the subject, Ashley Parker, from the idea of being an individual human being and pushed her towards becoming an object of desire.  For example, lines like “mere receptacle,” “lovely piece of meat,” “striking assemblage of physical attributes,” “shapely, ravishing thing devoid of intellect and personality,” and, “dazzling sexual apparatus” portrayed Parker’s “staggering metamorphosis” into the world.  Instead of being a unique, feeling, and ambitious person Ashley became no more than sexual prey.  Another frequently-used device in this piece was repetition.  Over and over again the author describes Ashley’s transformation from a person to a thing.   For example, he/she wrote “the rite of passage that all females make from girlhood into entirely disempowered objecthood,” “Parker had become a particularly alluring instrument of purely physical pleasure in the months since she was a young, conscious, independent preteen girl,” and, “she used to be…[capable of subjective experiences]…Now …she’s such a lovely vessel for displaced sexual frustration and voyeuristic lust.” These quotes, coupled with many others helped the Onion to direct its dry humor towards the issue of female objectification.

This is the Election of a Lifetime

Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVxRmNO6Qs0

This past September Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, delivered a speech at the Democratic National convention titled “Election of a Lifetime.” His speech centered around three main topics: current democratic ideals, the potentially disastrous or prosperous future awaiting Americans, and the qualifications of both presidential candidates.  Governor Patrick was Mitt Romney’s successor as governor and pulled on his experience under a Romney Regime frequently to detail his shortcomings as a leader and what his ineptitudes would mean for America’s future.  During the portion of Patrick's speech where he discussed democratic and American goals he began each of his sentences with “we believe.”  This repetition allowed for a connection from one idea to the next and a sense of patriotism and community.  He continued to draw on this patriotism through pathos, reminding people that the election wasn’t supposed to be about which party you support but who would make America a better country.  By sayings like “government has a role to play…in helping people help themselves to the American dream” he caused his audience, democrats, republicans, and the undecided alike, to feel unified and safe in the knowledge that their government was not merely looking out for itself.  On the other hand, he also used pathos to generate fear.  In an election, people will not vote for a president who they feel will leave the country worse off than when they entered office.  By listing Romney’s failures as governor of Massachusetts (education cuts, deterioration of commercial buildings, high taxes, failure of small businesses, etc.) he forced his audience to face the harsh realities of a Romney America.  I believe that Patrick’s speech was well-worded, moving, and effective in getting people to not only believe in Obama, but doubt Mitt Romney.

Confessions of a Young Anti-Feminist

“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat” (Rebecca West, English author, journalist, and literary critic).  To answer Rebecca West’s question, feminism is, in the simplest terms, the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.  The article “Confessions of a Young Anti-Feminist,” written by Australian journalist Josephine Asher, details how feminism is destroying femininity, chivalry, and romance in one fell swoop.  Asher described herself in the article, and in her biography on thepunch.com, a website dedicated to controversial debates, as a woman who would “rather dodge a flying pair of high heels thrown at me in anger than pin a man under a pair of mine” meaning that she feels it’s better to defend her traditionalist views to women than challenge a man’s masculinity.  And, from my side of the screen at least, shoes certainly were flying.  I personally found Asher’s argument to be ineffective, therefore leaving her purpose unfulfilled, despite her clear and well-articulated speech.  At one point she attempted to build up legitimacy by citing a renowned neurosurgeon, Charlie Teo.  She quoted him saying things like “They’re [men] there to be protective. A man has to have a good job…so he can…support his family. A woman has to be loving and caring.”  Instead of using this quote to generate ethos, as was intended, it made Asher’s argument seem archaic.  A man has to support his family?  A woman has to be loving and caring?  From both of these statements I am left with the distinct idea that women don’t have to do anything as long as they are loving and that men are allowed to be misogynistic brutes if they provide for their families.  This was one of many things about this article that made me want to hurl shoes at Josephine Asher.  Another was her attempt at showing how gender roles have changed.  By writing that “men are sporting aprons, doing their own ironing and pushing trolleys down supermarket aisles—roles that don’t exactly exude manliness” she came off as closed-minded.  This was because she basically said that men who do household chores aren't really men at all.  Asher truly tried to present a case for anti-feminism which fell short for one encompassing reason: she does not understand feminism.  Feminism has nothing to do with being manly at all (this also detracts from her argument by implying power and success are male characteristics).  It is merely the ability to choose for oneself.  If a woman wants to stay home and raise her children or become a CEO it is her choice; not because she is manly, but because she is a human being and deserves those choices.

Link:  http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/confessions-of-a-young-anti-feminist/

Sandy Hook Shooting

http://24.media.tumblr.com/54bd1320940122b1cdd6a309447a7dec/tumblr_mf4mpr0yJF1qdevr8o1_500.jpg

This picture is of Santa Clause making his way through Connecticut and crying when he saw that there would be children at Sandy Hook Elementary who wouldn’t be getting gifts this year.  This cartoon was created after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in the Sandy Hook village of Newport, Connecticut.  The author of this cartoon is known for creating caricatures, mostly of children.  The event hit him especially hard because he loves children and capturing their happiness through art.  The purpose was to redirect attention from gun control and from Adam Lanza towards the losses of the families in Sandy Hook.  The audience was anyone who has heard of the shooting and is thinking about the families who have lost children, nieces, nephews, siblings, and grandchildren.  I think it’s also for the people who are trying to take this tragedy and manipulate it to be about gun control laws or about who saw warning signs in Adam Lanza.  Instead of trying to push an agenda people might, for once, consider the emotional loss people are going through and the sadness they will deal with taking gifts back to the store for their dead children.  A tool the author used to be successful in achieving his message was the allusion to Santa Claus.  Santa is supposed to represent happiness and the kind of hope and belief only children can have so by showing him crying with the gifts scattered by the sleigh they show how innocence died with the twenty children in that Elementary school. 

Scratch and Dent Dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfTa4B7wQ_8

This poem, “Scratch and Dent Dreams,” was written and performed by Eric Darby and won the 2005 Slam Poetry semi-finals.  It is about dreams that we all give up on and what you can do with them when you pick them back up again.  It takes place in a store that sells dreams, hope, and second chances.  Eric Darby is a nationally recognized poet who has competed in and won several poetry competitions.  His works have been included in four spoken word anthologies, and he’s had two albums released by Poetry Jam and Rounder Records.  Currently, he attends Syracuse where is a creative writing fellow.  He wrote this poem to inspire hope in people that give up on their dreams and to lead them to give that same hope to others.  The intended audience was dreamers and those who think of themselves as failures.  Also, the poem was directed towards people who love slam poetry and other works belonging to Eric Darby.  This poem overflows with examples of pathos, comparisons, and hidden meanings.  For example, the title of the poem is scratch and dent dreams.  Something that is “scratch and dent” in a store means that when you take it up to the register you get money off for its imperfections; a small tear or maybe a scratch on the side.  This comparison of imperfect dreams to other “ruined” merchandise was very effective in getting Darby’s message across because it reminded those who have given up or are struggling that just because their dream isn’t as perfect as they’d like, that doesn’t mean it has to be over.  An example of pathos is when Eric said, “You won't have any directions or factory number tabs but don’t panic, there’s a hundred ways to do it right and none to do it wrong.”  The emotions used here are hope and perseverance.  I found this line very effective because often, people give up once things get difficult and he doesn’t want them to do that.  He is basically saying that you can’t mess up your dreams as long as you keep going.