English: Gender and Women Essay

Submitted By mgchong0
Words: 1093
Pages: 5

Traditionally, males have been the ones who are depended on in society, while women have been the ones to care for the family and stay home. In modern times, this is no longer the case. There is not a traditional way, and if a person brings up the traditional ways of the past then they are viewed as sexist or looked down upon. Women are becoming more involved in society in ways that they never would have dreamt of in the past. Jobs that have always been viewed as male dominate jobs are now accepting women such as being a CEO of a company or entering into the varying fields of engineering. In Sara Maratta’s article, “Move Over Boys, Make Room in the Crease”, she introduces the ever-changing gender roles in society. As society evolves towards equality, one’s sex should not determine one’s ability to be involved in the world of sports. She reflects and expands on her own experiences with being an avid fan of hockey as a female, and the difficulties that women face in the world of sports, through the use of logos, ethos and pathos to engage her audience to consider these by standards seen in gender. Women have earned much respect in the world, including in the world of sports, but there is still room for improvement. Sara Maratta uses the logos as well as ethos appeal to argue her point that women’s status in society still can improve when mentioning events, such as the Women’s World Cup. In the article, “Move Over Boys, Make Room in the Crease”, Maratta states in the “1999 Women’s World Cup [it] contained gender commentary about women’s status in society and focused on the soccer players as women” (541). Including this fact from the Women’s World Cup creates a way for the audience to see that Maratta has background knowledge on the topic and can therefore formulate a credible opinion on the topic of women in the world of sports. Also by including the World Cup, she establishes credibility with an authentic situation where this sexism actually occurs. Women have gained the respect in a small amount to the point where they are receiving news coverage for the World Cup; however, they are not being publicized for the sport. The respect is not entirely there for them as athletes in general, but instead, respect is given only for being a women athlete. Including this real life example guides the audience to relate the core of her argument to their own lives. She hopes to lead the audience to realize the difference between coverage and respect of men’s sports versus women’s sports. The general treatment of women is also an adamant issue throughout the paper, but shown through the lens of sports. Maratta includes the specific story of Erin Andrews, a women sport’s reporter. The article states, “Just Google her name and you will be overwhelmed with pictures of her breast and back side…it doesn’t seem to matter that she can dissect a complicated game of football with the grace of a seasoned pro” (541-542). Utilizing a popular reporter and the reference of a common website, Google, adds to the ethos appeal as well as the pathos. Both are relatable to an audience, and can cause them to form an image of what is happening. Using a popular reporter gains the interest of the audience and establishes credibility for Maratta’s argument. Since the audience may find that they already know of Erin Andrews and understand how strong of a sports reporter she is, it allows Maratta to engage her audience in a way that is relatable. It also attacks the audience emotionally in the way that it is exposing women in an inappropriate way, which is deemed wrongful in society. A woman reading this would connect with Andrews on an emotional level because it would be demeaning to be exposed in such a way, as well as anger them because she is not getting the respect she deserves. As for a man, it will have them questioning how well of a sports reporter she truly is. Men would be more likely to look into her because of their disbelief that a