November/December Pundit 3
- Jylliann Huff
- Dec 6, 2019
- 2 min read
Jennifer Senior
What We’re Not Talking About When We Talk About Joe Biden( https://nyti.ms/2UkLCXq)
Sexual harassment is a problem. Dismissing women’s ideas is a more pervasive problem.
The New York Times
April 12, 2019
Jennifer Senior’s op-ed opens up by briefly discussing Joe Biden’s past of being touchy with women. The issue was first brought up by Lucy Flores, and a pattern of Biden’s over-touchiness emerged. A conflict exists between expressing favor with physical touch versus excessive creepy touching. In the midst of merely discussing the creepiness of Joe Biden, we - as in our society - are not discussing the more pervasive issue of women not being taken seriously. Senior mentions how she personally knows women with #MeToo stories, but many with stories about feeling dismissed and invisible. She provides examples of these experiences by listing mansplaining, aggression when a man is contradicted, being called boastful for expressing their achievements, women not being given the same duties as men in the workplace, the motherhood penalty, three unpaid months with a newborn, and childcare. She argues that these are corrosive and real issues that need to draw attention soon.
Senior heavily relies on experiences - both personal and impersonal - to support her argument of this article: the issue of women feeling as if they can not be taken seriously needs to be fixed. Her tone remains impassioned, but not too fiery. She retains a concerned voice but keeps enough cool to effectively convey the fact that women are frequently dismissed. Senior is directly speaking to those who feel as if women and men are equal in the sense of representation in hopes to enlighten them or change their mind. She attempts to convince those who believe otherwise with the many examples of experiences she provides, making this her overall purpose of calling attention to the issue.
I found that Senior's use of personal stories allow her to establish credibility with the reader. I also appreciated her several appeals to emotion and her insistent tone in her article that help to support her main claim.
The most effective tool Senior uses is the personal stories and relationship she has to the topic. With such a sensitive subject, it is important for the reader to be able to trust the author with what they're saying, which Senior is able to accomplish. And I think that, unfortunately, Joe Biden isn't the only name that can be inserted into that title.
I commented on the blogs of Mollie, Landry, and Grace Marionneaux.
The issue of sexual harassment is frequently covered on the news, in articles, and on social media. The idea of women feeling denied or invisible is a less covered topic that carries gravity too. Women can feel dismissed in sexual harassment cases, but they can also feel dismissed in the workplace or even in their home environment. The experiences you listed in your op-ed actually enlightened me on some new issues that women deal with. I appreciated that your tone never appeared harsh or commanding, but rather a calm tone that only intended to help women.
Senior informs readers of the recent allegations against Joe Biden in an attempt to get the readers talking about sexual harassment. I enjoyed reading the article because of Senior's strong evidence, which backs up such a powerful claim. Her usage of personal experiences regarding the topic, as well as the experiences of many of her close friends, appeal to the readers' emotions since most will feel empathy towards those women.