Women in Athletic Training Profession

For so long, the Athletic Training profession has been dominated by men. In the article “Women in Athletic Training”, the author Marcia K. Anderson does a study that describes what the pioneer women of athletic training had to go through during a time of male dominance. Women entered the athletic training realm as the underlings and weren’t respected as athletic trainers. “The purpose of the study was to describe, from their perspectives, the early experiences of women . . .,” (Anderson 42) rather than building an argument on how she feels about the situation, she’s going to be the middle man and explain their stories. It’s important for an author to establish credibility or ethos because one word or sentence could either be the death or birth of his/her reputation. Ethos lets the reader know whether or not the author is trustworthy. Although Anderson does not have personal experience with breaking into the field, interviewing the thirteen pioneer women gives her credibility in some areas while taking away in others. There are some key aspects she leaves out that lessen her credibility throughout the article, such as, not having any athletic training experience to fall back on, the demographics of the women she interviews, and how she interviews the women.

Without experience in athletic training Anderson has little credibility. Yes, the time of males dominating athletic training may have been before her time, but it would be nice for the reader to get her point of view directly from her. To read how she felt when the women told her their stories of oppression or about how powerless they must of felt during these would have made her piece that much more interesting. Instead, the reader is left to assume that, because she’s a ...

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...ke sense to just represent one race.

The unsuccessful use of ethos makes the reader feel like the author’s piece is irrelevant to read. What’s going to make them believe this author has something to say that is actually worth listening to? It goes as far as the process it took for the author to make the article. Little things like the ones mentioned in this analysis: demographics of the subjects, interview styles and experience, which contribute to the process of making her article, could become big things when it comes to the author’s use of ethos, because it’s all about credibility. The process is where ethos is established for the most part and that’s where Anderson made most of her “little” mistakes.

Works Cited

Marcia K. Anderson. ”Women in Athletic Training.” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 63.3 (1992): pp. 42. Journal Article.