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.