Feminist Comparative Rhetorical Analysis

Feminist Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Elsa Knight ENGL 151 09-27-2015

When creating a comparative rhetorical analysis of two different feminist essays, we must first define the term “feminism”. According to Merriam-Webster.com, feminism is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”. Feminism is a also a long term social movement, one that’s been in the works since the early 1900’s. However, as any challenger to the norm might receive, the words ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ have gotten a bad reputation. Throughout the years, popular opinion has agreed that if you’re a feminist, you hate men, and don’t shave. It’s a very close-minded belief, and both Lindy West and Roxane Gay agree. Both authors of the essays I am comparing today, West and Gay try and convey their beliefs that feminism isn’t what you think it is. However, they do it in very different ways. Who conveyed their beliefs of feminism better and the superior argument? That is what I am going to display today.

The first essay I will analysing is “What No One Else Will Tell You About Feminism” by Lindy West. In her article, published on Jezebel, August 2nd, 2012, West claims that everyone who doesn’t think of women as objects, or treats them like dirt. She

then goes on to describe the history of feminism, highlighting the three ‘waves’ in their ideals and goals. After that, she sums up her essay by displaying two messages: One, that women don’t exist to please men. Two, that male privilege is real. At the very end, West repeats her opening statement that we are all feminists.
This essay, in my opinion, is very peculiar. West doesn’t rely on the usual persuasive tactics. Instead, she uses a technique of using comedy and curse words to relate to a younger audience. However, that is also her detriment. In the process of trying to be funny, West in the meantime also forgets the ‘persuasion’ part of her essay. I believe it’s very hard to change someone’s opinion, when the mindset and tone of the article is ‘I am right, you are wrong. If you are wrong, you are a terrible human being. Shame on you.’ For example, one of the quotes in the article says “Guess what? You're a feminist. If you are a person alive in the world, other people, both men and women, have told you that all feminists are hairy, reactionary…who need to quit cryin'... HOWEVER. THAT IS OBVIOUSLY STUPID.” Those are the opening words, and in my opinion, don’t sound very persuasive. To paraphrase West’s article: You are a feminist. This is what feminism is, and you are one. Take my word for it.
The second essay is “Bad Feminist” by Roxane Gay.

In this essay, Gay deconstructs the stereotypical view of a feminist, by showing that you can be a feminist, even if you’re not in the small box the rest of the world thinks you should be in, in order to qualify as a ‘feminist’. Throughout the essay, Gay uses several quotes and stories from other women who are either afraid to say that they’re feminists, or don’t quite understand you don’t have to be in the limiting ‘box’, even though in their moral beliefs and actions, these sourced women are, in fact, feminists. According to Gay, if we didn’t have this stereotype, then maybe more women with diverse lives and views would be able to ‘come out’ as

feminists.
In short, if feminists are confined to strict lifestyles, Gay assumes that she herself must be a ‘bad feminist’. However, if all of us tried to get rid of the bad connotation the word ‘feminist’ has, then we might not have the ‘bad’ feminists. We’ll have a diverse amount of people who believe that men and women are equal. I think that Gay did a very good job portraying her argument that society should try and expand its view of what a feminist is.