Jonathan Swift and Katha Pollitt, separated by 200 years, share a common interest in the welfare of people. Specifically, the two authors write of different experiences regarding the underprivileged women and children in their particular countries. While my experience might be limited in the environment of poverty personally, I have had some exposure to underprivileged youth and their families. My perception of poverty is based on attending both primary and secondary school in a depressed socioeconomic
Dolls” by Katha Pollitt, uses examples from scientific studies and hypothetical anecdotes in order to craft her primary argument. This argument appears to be that no matter what the case, parents will send messages to their children, and that they should simply pay attention to the messages that they send. Pollitt frequents broad statements regarding gender roles throughout the piece, that may be used as an attempt to relay to the reader what they may already know about gender stereotypes. Pollitt appears
In their pieces on the Smurfette principle, Pollitt and Ellis both discuss the idea that gender representations have intense effects on the children who absorb certain types of popular entertainment. Although we are hesitant to accept it, we are all influenced by the media in a very powerful way. Whether it be through TV shows, billboards, movies or the news. One thing that we commonly wonder about is if the adult female population is as influenced by the stereotyped gender roles present on TV or
of boys acknowledging themselves as boys and girls as girls. By only participating in stereotypical boy or girl activities, nature’s course is undermined. In Katha Pollitt’s essay “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls” she explains why she believes that it is society’s influence that truly teaches a child to act like his or her own gender. Pollitt briefly discusses patriarchy and how parents unknowingly begin building the basis of a child’s identity since early childhood. Similarly in Deborah Blum’s “The
the women of the world? In 1991 Katha Pollitt had that same question. In an article in The New York Times Pollitt expressed her concerns regarding female role models in the media for the younger generation. “Contemporary shows are either essentially all-male, like Garfield, or organized on what I call the Smurfette principle: a group of male buddies will be accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined” (as cited in Green & Lindsky, 2012, p. 546) Katha Pollitt argues that the television shows
their enchanted dreams have been shattered into pieces. Works Cited Cook, Jackie; Main, Wilson.“What is a Princess” Australian Feminist Studies 23.57 (2008). Wohlwend, Karen E. “Damsels In Discourse” Reading Research Quarterly 44.1 (2009). Pollitt, Katha. “Her’s; The Smurfette Principle”. The New York Times Review, April 07, 1991.
Pollitt has a major claim that television of which children watch is responsible for the gender bias that children have. She made a claim of value in her essay. She told a personal story of letting her daughter watch The Little Mermaid. She talked about that cartoons children watch suggest a stereotype for types of characters. Pollitt also talks about how she thinks children’s shows focus on the male but leave the female
situations; yet, one thing is always a constant, men being the superior. Katha Pollitt, an award- winning writer for magazines such as The Nation and New York Times, discusses how this divide between men and women shown by the media is critical in the upbringing of today’s youth. From princesses always needing saved to the cute little bunny with pink bows in the background these create the acceptance of a male made world. Much like Pollitt, Jean Kilbourne, EdD, is a marvelous writer who has been shocking
do show the correct way to use rhetoric. The rhetorical tools that Katha Pollitt uses in her essay, “What’s the Matter with Creationism?”, become impactful to convince the reader that what she is saying to be correct without leaving the professional realm of academic writing. Pollitt has a lack of emotional appeal
Katha Pollitt’s What’s the Matter with Creationism? is based on a poll on peoples belief in evolution. She argues that educated people should be more likely to believe in evolution and rants about how ridiculous it is that the percentage of people is the same between college graduates and the rest of America. She does not do a very good job of persuading her intended audience due to her lack of restraint of opinion. She degrades the people who don’t believe in evolution, which funnily enough discredits
authorities. In Katha Pollitt’s “Penn State’s Patriarchal Pastimes,” she writes about the unfairness in athlete’s education and how far coaches will go to keep their players playing on the football field. Katha Pollitt and Frank Deford have completely different voices throughout their writings. Pollitt’s voice, bold and unapologetic. For example, she angrily states “cancel the season. Fire everybody involved in the child abuse scandal” in her introductory paragraph (Pollitt 1). On the other
written about the ship. Three pieces of literature are a poem by David R. Slavitt entitled “Titanic”, a folk song published by Carl Sandburg in a book named The America Songbag entitled “De Titanic” and an essay on the James Cameron film, Titanic by Katha Pollitt entitled “Women and Children First.” The literature written at the time of the sinking is different in content from that written much later. To begin, the poem “Titanic” by David R. Slavitt has five stanzas. The first one starts off with the sentence
for debate in the United States. Currently, 37 states have legal gay marriage, while 13 states have banned gay marriage. The two essays, "What’s Wrong with Gay Marriage?" by Katha Pollitt and "Gay "Marriage": Societal Suicide" by Charles Colson provide a compare and contrast view of why gay marriage should be legal or not. Pollitt argues that gay marriage is a constitutional human right and that it should be legal, while Colson believes that gay marriage is sacrilegious act that should not be legal
they are women. I, as a college student, do not see these issues in my everyday life. In Katha Pollitt’s article, The Smurfette Principle, she argues that in cartoons, the directors favor men over women as the lead roles in their cartoon series’. I believe that in society, there are no feminism, or Smurfette principle, attributes involved in any cartoons, nor is it entangled into the everyday world. Katha Pollitt, an American essayist, created the controversial “Smurfette Principle”.
For the past hundred years, women have been fighting to gain the right to vote, the right to join the workforce, the right to equal pay and the right to make their own medical decisions. Women’s rights have been a major controversial topic in society, and specifically, abortion has been a major issue in regards to women’s rights. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy that results in the death of a baby fetus, and this process can only occur in the early stages of the pregnancy. Considering
wrong with gay marriage? That is the question writer Katha Pollit asks in her essay “What’s Wrong with Gay Marriage?”. The essay is clearly intended for people who are against gay marriage. The title alone shows that she does not understand why people think gay marriage is wrong. Pollitt’s audience must have different reasons for being against gay marriage. This is why she addresses the main reasons why people may think gay marriage is wrong. Pollitt talks about how people believe marriage is about procreation
Johnson, Ramon. "What They Aren't Telling You About Gay Adoption." About.com Gay Life. About.com, n. d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. Kennedy, X. J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron, eds. The Bedford Reader. 11th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2012.Print. Pollitt, Katha. “What’s wrong with Gay Marriage?” Kennedy, Kennedy, and Aaron 570-572.
In Katha Pollitt’s essay “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls,” she explains the differences between the genders and she argues how feminist movements are hardly appreciated. Pollitt further demonstrates the values of women and men. According to Pollitt she explains that, “It’s twenty-eight years since the founding of NOW, and boys still like trucks and girls still like dolls” (544). From here, we can deduce that the author comparing the activities of boys and girls, and their choices of playing objects
Roles Over the years, humans have come up with a tradition that each sex has a certain role to follow. Centuries later gender roles still seem to exist, even though this century is supposed to be known as accepting new ideas and people’s beliefs. In Katha Pollitt’s article “HERS; Why Boys Don 't Play With Dolls”, she argues that the reason gender roles still exist is because parents are afraid to raise a homophobic child. As well as, Noel Perrin agrees that gender roles have nothing to do with your
simply because they do not measure up. This is not only true in real life situations, but also in the media. The harsh reality is that a majority of the worlds’ population believe these false ideas. In the essays “The Smurfette Principal” by Katha Pollitt, “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” by Jean Kilbourne, “The Wonder Woman Precedent: Female (Super)Heroism on Trial” by Julie O’Reilly, “Taking a Bite Out of Twilight” by Carmen Siering, and “From Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Difference”