Girls Night Out

In the article “On Date Rape”, Camille Paglia argues that the reason why women are falling victims of date rape is because they want freedom but do not act responsibly. She says that freedom comes with responsibility which women should take as they are always at a higher risk of being overpowered by men. The responsibility she refers to is being alert and being on the lookout for signs of possible sexual assault. An analysis of Camille Paglia’s “On Date Rape” shows a fallacious argument resulting from personal attacks, hasty generalization, and false cause.

For centuries women and young girls have been told what to do, their futures have been pre planned for them. However it’s not every girl's dream to be a stay at home housewife. Women want a chance to feel safe, to explore the world, without fear of being punished or put down. Women have often been considered the weaker sex, but not any more. The National Organization for Women, also known as NOW, is a public feminist organization that was founded in 1966. NOW’s goal as a national organization is to educate the world on the economic inequalities surrounding women, along with the rising amounts of crimes committed against women that go unnoticed. As a result of NOW’s speeches, rallies, and, marches many young women have been inspired to speak

In the world today, women have a say in what they want to do and things that they desire to do. Back in the day, before the 1800’s, women had to be submissive to their male counterparts and do according to what was required of them. In the end, this led to the demeaning of the woman and the concept that women were inferior to men. Even though this concept and perception changed, there have been some countries and regions of the world that have not yet recognized the equality that women deserve. Such areas do not allow women to vote, attend school, have a say in the community, and the women are at the mercy of their husbands, fathers or male superiors (Hartmann, Susan M).

Sociological imagination highlights how society places the two sexes in unequal positions of wealth, power and privilege. It is therefore very useful to look beyond the gender itself and see the global issues associated with it. There are differences regarding the type of gender in different countries, the levels of gender inequality and the amount of violence that are necessary to maintain both systems of difference and domination. Women were always viewed as weak, sensitive, dependent and unintelligent so the society formed a view that they have to sit home, do the housework and raise the children. They were always considered less skilled, incapable of doing a hard work and even now women are more likely to be paid less than man. Women are more likely to be abused and they are less likely to have access to formal power. According to the United Nations, “At least one in five of world’s female population has been physically or sexually abused by a man at some time in their life” (UNFPA, 2000: p. 25).

This book review is on the book, Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, which was published in 2014. Rebecca Solnit writes a book of essays that interprets the silence that women hold towards men in their everyday life. Young women must know the reality that we do not live a fairy tale life where women are treated as royalty by their husband or boyfriend. Women are treated as objects in where men could play with them as if they are dolls, whom they pay attention to whenever they would like to or need something from them. Despite what a woman says to men, all men are always going to have the reason, even if they are not right. The silences that a woman holds towards men are creating an even broader issue towards women in the present and in the future. The author mainly argues that women should not silence themselves and their issues such as abuse, harassment, rape, violence, stalking or any other crimes that are hurting them emotionally and physically. “Violence doesn’t have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender” (Solnit, Men Explain Things to Me, page 21). If women continue not to speak up and take action, men are going to continue to take abuse and control over their power.

As adults, we often think we know what’s best for children and youth. In certain circumstances, this holds true but not all the time. In the case of gender, parents more often than not have strong opinions, especially when it comes to the safety of girls. By looking at gender through the socio-cultural lens, it permits us to view young people in a contextual way that creates moral panics and discourses.

The streets of Chicago might not always feel or be safe, thats why DePaul University juniors, Katie Holm and her friend, asked a nearby, on duty police officer for a late night ride home. Both of the girls got into the vehicle,

“Birthday Party” by Katherine Brush uses literary devices such as tone, point of view, diction, and sensory details to achieve her purpose.

“The Mask You Live In,” the 2015 documentary produced by Jennifer Siebel Newson was made to inform it’s audience which are boy and girls from aged 10 to adults that the social expectations which contemporary society sets upon males through popular culture, sports and media is very harmful. This message is not only important for the males who are negatievly impacted by the “man box” however it is harmful for everyone else in their lives as they are impacted directly. This film hopes to shed light to an issue that has been around since the militarization of civilizations when women became inferior to their male counterparts and patriarchy became the dominant approach to social norms. Through the film, we’re able to understand the term of the “manbox.” This term is societies’s rules for acting like a man; the mentality behaviours and restrictions that men and boys are socialy constructed to such as being strong, athletic, providing, aggressive and unemotional.

In current days, date rape is an obvious risk for modern women. The criminal cases with regard to date rape and robbery are not unusual. In this context, many sociologists, researchers, and even police are warning young females to pay attention to personal safety when going for a party or having a date at night. However, in spite of these good-willed and well-intentioned warnings, there are also some comments and opinions putting forward advices on protecting personal safety for young girls based on the false ground, making their ideas lack of reason and reliability. The editorial, On Date Rape, written by Camille Paglia, is one of these opinions with obvious fallacies and weaknesses in reasoning. There are three most clear fallacies in this article.

Jody Miller uses the urban neighborhoods of St. Louis as a canvas to paint a picture of the constant struggles that young African-American women face. Such as, neighborhood violence, sexual violence, gender and sexual harassment in school, as well as dating violence within their lives on a daily basis; Miller focuses on the gender inequalities that are present within the urban communities and how patriarchy is ingrained in the young men of urban subculture. The girls views the males of their communities as being more susceptible to violence because of their masculine personas and gang participation. This shows that although the girls acknowledge the potential victimization’s they are likely to face, they still succumb to their victimization, categorizing the violence against them as commonplace. This leads them to viewing themselves as second-class citizens within the community. While they have acquired knowledge that the neighborhood streets at nighttime are a male-dominated place, even though it is a public space for anyone, it is seen as dangerous for women at night, this example illustrates the preconceived need for self-isolation within the neighborhood. “Gail stated I’ll be walkin’ at night and people just be walkin’ behind you I mean, I do not know, everybody gets scared to walk at nighttime, so I guess it’s just normal” (Miller,2008, p36)

But these young feminists today are deluded. They come from a protected, white, middle-class world, and they expect everything to be safe” (Paglia 144). According to this, the author believes today’s young women never be aware about dangers and think everywhere is safe. It’s a fallacy which is very similar as the previous fallacy. The problems are hasty generalization and poisoning the well. The author just used some examples she saw to represent all today’s young women. It’s not correct and convincing. It will also make young women readers angry when they saw this content. Because not all young women are same as the author said, and when they read to here, they will strongly disagree with the author, so that effect the next reading.

Almost five years ago, two events ignited this transnational movement. The first one occurred on January 24th in 2011 when Toronto police officer named Michael Sanguitti and his colleagues were speaking about campus crime prevention at Osgood Hall Law School. While addressing the issue of sexual assault on campus, Michael Sanguitti gave the students some not-so-sage advice, saying, “Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

1. The men scare the girls so badly, they will listen to almost anything they say, just so they or their families do not get harmed.

Girls, young women, and mature mothers. Society has consistently given women strict guidelines, rules and principles on how to be an appropriate member of a man’s society. These rules are set at a young age and enforced thoroughly into adulthood. When not followed accordingly, women often times too many face reprimanding through means of verbal abuse, physical abuse, or social exile. In the midst of all these strict guidelines and social etiquette for girls, a social rebellion started among girls and women and gender roles were broken, however the social rebellion did not and does not affect all girls and women. For instance, in less socially developed places, young girls on the brink of womanhood are still strongly persuaded to be a man’s idea of a “woman”.