“Feminism has not prepared them for this,” states Camille Paglia in her essay “Rape: A Bigger Danger than Feminists Know.” The “them” in Paglia’s statement is referring to women, and she is discussing the topic of date rape. Susan Jacoby, on the other hand, writes in her article “Common Decency,” that feminism is not responsible for the rising cases of date rape, but that it is the men who are at fault. Paglia’s argument is insightful and accurate, but Jacoby’s writing is flawed and not well-researched. Paglia includes all rhetorical appeals and persuasive techniques, while Jacoby lacks in some departments of persuasiveness and fills the gap with logical fallacies. Comparing both of these papers will help the reader see why Paglia’s argument is researched, relevant, and important.
Paglia’s argument is immediately striking and grabs the viewer’s attention. She uses all of the rhetorical appeals in her paper and presents a strong argument against feminism, and for female self-awareness. Before her essay, Paglia establishes her ethos, and confirms to the reader that all her points are well-researched and true. In the introduction to the author, it lists all of Paglia’s accomplishments, books, and careers. It presents a strong sense of ethos for her readers and lets them know exactly how experienced she is. Paglia’s essay is also loaded with logos. She presents real-life stories, examples, and statistics that all help to prove her point. After her ethos is presented, the examples of logos seem to present much more power and authority in the paper, and convinces the reader that these are all true and apply to her argument. The third rhetorical appeal, pathos, is presented throughout every paragraph. Not only does Paglia p...
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...bout her experience with her ex-boyfriend who she initially wanted to have sex with to make up for another nasty boyfriend. She eventually realizes she does not want to have intercourse with her ex-boyfriend, and he left the building. This may invoke a bit of sympathy for this author and help the reader get a closer look at her personal life, but after the example, she writes that he does not deserve gratuitous praise for his actions (512). She immediately loses sympathy the reader once had for her at the beginning, and it hurts her pathos. Jacoby includes two of the three rhetorical appeals, but the ethos and pathos are applied poorly.
Works Cited
Loiselle, Marci, and Wayne R. Fuqua. "Alcohol's Effects on Women's Risk Detection in a Date-Rape Vignette." Journal of American College Health 55.5 (2007): 261-266. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
In the “180” movie Ray Comfort outstandingly used rhetorical appeal throughout his argument in a thorough way to further grasp his audience’s attention. He used pathos, ethos, and logos during the course of his dispute of abortion and the Holocaust. Comfort uses pathos more frequently than the other two appeals, to plea to the audience’s heart strings. An example of when pathos was used was when
...n the author diminishing the strong persuasiveness afforded by the logos and ethos in his argument because of his excess of pathos and tone, which is perceived as condescending.
“Before the rape I felt good. My life was in order. I was getting ready to get married. Afterward everything changed. I kind of lost who I was as a person…
The following morning is a dreadful, long one that stays with you forever. The memories in your mind keep crawling up every night when you fall asleep. You keep asking yourself, “Why did it happen to me? What did I do wrong?” Yet no answer comes to mind, all that you can think of is being violated, being misled for a simple task-rape. Why does it happen to us? What do the men see when the door is opened and a gorgeous women stands in front of their eyes. The mind collapses trying to find a solution to the problem. It's like having an exam and the only way for you to score is to cheat. So all girls are just scores guys try to push themselves upon? The mind grows blank and the human body works with sexual instinct. Date rape is one of those things that one man can't find a proper answer for. There are so many possibilities that one might think of as the cause of the problem. Which one is the right one? Is there one specific answer that is physiologically correct? No. Everyone has his or her own opinion, whether it is from experience or from common knowledge. Date rape is mainly cased by the in-proper behavior of the rapist. A man who can rape a woman has obviously been brought up in an uncomfortable, improper raised environment.
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
The passage I have chosen to write about is “A Woman’s Place?” an article published by the New York Magazine that focuses on interviews from seven esteemed female chefs about their views on how they are treated in the culinary industry. These are not the main stream female chefs you see on television like Rachel Ray, but chefs that are actually in the kitchen day in and day out. In the interviews they are asked questions about working in the kitchen and how it is different being a female their among a male dominated industry. The reporter also asks them to recount several memories in order to generate emotions from both the readers as well as the others being interviewed. As the interviewer questions these highly accredited guests, multiple strategies are employed like the use of pathos, logos, and some ethos to create a strong argument that woman are
The stranger rape scenario was about a women walking home after having coffee with her friends and a man just comes up to her and sexually assaults her. Study 1 concentrated on blameworthiness based on the scenario presented to the participants randomly; that being a scenario of acquaintance or stranger rape. Study 2 focused on sentence length for perpetrators recommended by participants based on type of rape. For both, study one and two they had used Likert scales to determine blameworthiness and sentence and to measure benevolent sexism in relation to study one and two. Based on the results, in Study 1 there was a significant negative correlation between acquaintance rape and benevolent sexism with regard to blameworthiness. In Study 2 those
Pathos is the appeal to an audience’s emotion. Aside from the other two appeals that I have outlined in this essay, pathos is by far the most recognizable appeal in Lamott’s article. The humorous tone of the article is very easily recognized and frankly, it is hard not to laugh at some of Lamott’s uncalled-for sarcastic remarks (whether it be in your head or out loud). For example, when writing about how every writer she knows never writes an elegant first draft, she continues, “All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her” (1). By making such presumptuous claims about this person, some audiences might find this type of language comical or entertaining, which in turn makes them want to believe Lamott and continue reading. In a way this helps Lamott seem credible to some readers, in which case she has created a successful argument. On the other hand, some readers might find this kind of language unprofessional and inappropriate. Because much of the article deals with language that is full of humor and sarcasm, it would make sense to say that Lamott has directed this article towards an audience who is looking for something more entertaining than a typical statistic-filled essay that one might consider mainstream in this field. Whether it be entertaining or absurd, Lamott most definitely uses the appeal of pathos in her
“Most sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance or date. Approximately 75% of all rapes are date or acquaintance rapes. Most of these crimes either go unrecognized, unreported, unsolved, or unproven” (“The Hard Facts). Date rape is a terrible event and can happen in several ways, but it can be prevented. It can happen when someone is forced to have sex without consent on a date or at a party or when the attacker uses any type of abuse drugs in order to “spike” the victim’s drink and then commit the act of sexual assault; but how to prevent date rape is to recognize what it is and the dangers of it, to be cautious of all surroundings, to identify specific behaviors, and to be careful of date rape drugs.
Man charged with the rape of 31 women in New York! Ever caught the headline of a crime that occurred and wondered how a person could possibly commit such a heinous act against another person? This is the job of a criminologist. To study crimes, criminals, victims, environmental and social factors, etc. in order to come up with theories and reasons as to why people commit acts against others (Brotherton). Criminology is not a new concept, but it is an evolving one. For this reason many theories have derived from sociologist and psychologist as to why crimes are committed, who commits them, and other the factors that played a role. Take for instance the crime rape. Rape is an unwanted sexual act performed upon another individual by force, deception or while under the influence of a substance. While most rape victims are known to be women, this crime has been expanded to include rape against a man or a person of the same sex. Rape is not an easy concept to deal with, nor is dealing with a rapist. For the purpose of this paper, rape will be explained by three theories, biological, psychological and rational choice theory, all of which criminologist have deemed are fitting of the crime.
Oftentimes, the things individuals take for granted as preexisting facts are merely the products of social construction, which exert tremendous impacts on belief and action. Men and women are socially constructed categories inscribed by norms of masculinity and femininity that enables rape to occur. Catharine MacKinnon claims that rape is defined in a male perspective, which lacks the account of female experience. On the other hand, Sharon Marcus argues that rape is a constructed language that scripts the female body. As bell hooks points out, black men celebrate “rape culture” as a mean of expressing patriarchal dominance and endorsing female subordination. In order to redefine rape and to develop effective rape prevention, it is crucial to deconstruct the predetermined assumptions about men and women. Rape is socially constructed, through the ways how individuals possess misogynistic ideologies and endorse patriarchal power, turning the erotic fantasy of male dominance into “reality”.
“No.” What does “no” mean? Well the answer should be no, not maybe or yes. Date rape is not a joke. The situation should never be taken light heartedly. Consent is a major role when it comes to sexual relations. Miscommunication is a problem when it comes to Date/Acquaintance Rape. In all honesty the topic of Rape is not a common subject to talk about openly. The statistics would most likely decrease if both men and women were educated about Date rape to raise awareness about the assaults that occur daily.
Rape and sexual violence is a very serious problem that affects millions of people each year. Rape is someone taking advantage of another person sexually. Sexual assault can be verbal, physical, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. ("Sexual Assault.") Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. In 2002, only thirty-nine percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law officials. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet.") Victims sometimes do not report that they have raped because of shame or feeling that it was their fault. It is never the victim's fault. "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in a whole or in partly responsible for what had happened to them. Most victims believe this. ("Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence.")