Social constructs design feminine roles convey the theme of famous philosopher Simone de Beauvoir as he confers the idea that “women are not born, they are made”. Beauvoir presents the notion that women act differently from men because society prepares them to do so. It also transmits the proposition that women would act differently from society’s expectations if they were not raised under social taboos.
Eckert and Ginet provide facts and logic to relate their discussion of gendered stigmas with the quote. The authors present a criticism as they reveal that children never grow freely and in a natural way because people try to control them. Through effective choice of rhetoric tools, authors persuade the audience about the prevalence of social stigmas and their implications on genders.
Eckert and Ginet, in “Learning to be Gendered”, make effective rhetorical choices to support their argument of a gendered society. Through ethos, authors establish the strong relevance of their argument to the facts. The central claim states that society’s treatment of boys and girls transforms them into a different person from what they are born as. Certain beliefs that prevail in a society become part of human personality, and they are employed to treat genders. The authors state that children remain victims of innate social behaviours. The author provides evidence by building the relevance of their creation with the great philosopher Beauvoir’s work. Relating their discussion with the findings of different philosophers adds credibility to Eckert and Ginet’s works. They quote Butler’s work (1993), “assigning it to a lifetime as a male or female” (Eckert and Ginet p. 735). The quote provides evidentiary support and makes the discussion more meaningful. Ethos is also apparent as authors include different experimental findings, thus proving the source’s credibility.
Incorporating logos in the discussion adds logic that provides reasoning for the argument. Logos are practical literary devices that are used to relate topics to real-life scenarios. Gendered roles remain one of the visible issues faced by boys and girls. The reason becomes apparent in the source as it states parents start finding the sex of their children reflecting their beliefs. They search for the reason so they can treat boy and girl indifferently. The example of legitimate females and legitimate males exhibits the idea of gender classification. The authors use logos as they mention, “At birth, many hospital nurses provide pink caps for girls and blue caps for boys” (Eckert and Ginet 737). Colour coding reflects the stereotypical attitudes of the people as they assign blue colour to boys and pink colour to girls. To add reasoning, the authors add further support by including the experimental findings of John and Condry (1976), indicating that beliefs influence gender treatment. Adults interpreted the crying of a boy as anger and of a girl as fear, conveying the same message of gender classifications. Associating different perceptions with genders exhibits gendered stereotypes. The reasoning is also apparent as the authors mention that judgments influence the interaction of people with boys and girls. Other logic included in the discussion is of different talking styles. Parents’ intent is to use more innate words in their communication with girls than boys. Similarly, they will use diminutives when they interact with girls. The experimental results of Fagot et al. (1985) provide in-depth logic for the main argument. The authors point out that “teachers responded to girls when they talked, babbled or gestured, while they responded to boys when they whined, screamed or demanded physical attention” (Ecket and Ginet p. 740). Adding sufficient logic to the discussion makes the argument strong and compelling, thus allowing authors to justify their claims.
Pathos persuades the audience by evoking emotions appealing to logic. Pathos allows Eckert and Ginet to build consistent interaction with the audience through revealing different ideas. They manage to put audiences in a thoughtful condition when they use knowledge to find meaning. Pathos are apparent in “Why boys don’t play with dolls?” (Eckert and Ginet p. 742). The quote evokes emotions among audiences as they try to think about the question raised by the authors. Audiences identify the unfair role of society, and they build emotions of sympathy, believing that parents treat their boys harshly. The quote intrigues the readers to think why boys don’t play with dolls, thus allowing them to identify the gendered differences prevailing in society. The audiences realize that children fall into gendered roles when they come into the world because society instructs them in the same manner. Pathos are also visible as the authors mention, “Gender is so deeply ingrained in our social practice, in our understanding of ourselves” (Eckert and Ginet p. 739). The quote persuades the audience to think, thus creating feelings of concern. The audience puts them in a similar situation and explores how gender has influenced them throughout their lives since their existence. The discussion of LGBT adds more meaning for the audience and takes them to a state where they agree with the revelations. Increasing emotional appeal increases the strength of the argument, leading to a great probability of its acceptance among the audience.
Eckert and Ginet make practical choices of rhetorical devices, allowing them to convince the readers about their viewpoint. The stage of relating personal ideas with Beauvoir’s words sets an amazing beginning for the argument. Ethos, logos, and pathos are visible rhetorical devices that are apparent throughout the discussion. Ethos adds adequate evidence and proves the credibility of the argument by representing supporting claims. Logos are visible and contribute to the overall reasoning. Logic strengthens the viewpoints of the authors by creating relevance of their propositions with experimental findings. Through inciting emotional appeal, the authors manage to convince the reader, thus leading to acceptance of the main argument. In the conclusion, it states the belief that gendered society controls the lives of both males and females.
Work Cited
Eckert, P., & Ginet, S. M. (1992). To Be Gendered.
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