Rhetorical Analysis Of Katie Roiphe's In Defense Of Single Motherhood

1.) Overall main topic of this book connects between the issue of motherhood and feminism. One major key point I found while reading this book is the author, Amber Kinser explains the growth and progress of the role of mothers in the american society meaning how the roles have changed overtime. A major theme of Kinser’s book is that the public debates may focus on mothering, but the issues affect us all.  Cutting back on health care for women, on education, and on jobs for teachers, social workers and others in the service sector have their greatest impact on mothers, but they affect all of us. Motherhood becomes a symbol for how men and women, single and married, gay and straight, deal with the need for individual options and the need to act for the good of others.

“Speaking to you today, I speak for them, just as each of us speaks for women around the world who are denied the chance to go to school, or see a doctor, or own property, or have a say about the direction of their lives, simply because they are women”(Clinton 1). These words spoken by Hillary Rodham Clinton in her speech, “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” on September 5, 1995. Hilary pressured the Chinese government and the world to address the problems women face everyday go unresolved because they are ignored. Her speech is one that is still relevant today and has affected the world by inspiring other countries to proclaim their opinions on women's rights. Hillary uses many cases of rhetorical devices that include, parallelism, ethos, pathos,

About four in every ten children born in America in 2008 were born outside of marriage, and they are disproportionately minority and poor. “Only about 6 percent of college-educated mothers’ births are nonmarital versus 60 percent of those of high school dropouts” (5). Scholars responded to this by studying single-parent families.

All across the globe, there are children growing up in single-parent households, and through some research

Katie Roiphe is a single mother with two children. So, she has first hand experience of being a single mother. Being that she has this experience in her own life, it would give her point of view a legitimacy. Roiphe writes “I am lucky enough to be living in financially stable, relatively privileged circumstances, and have had the education that allows me to do so.” (Rophie 58). The author is well educated, and seems to have a healthy environment for her children at home. The author does make some good arguments about claims from credential sources, but does not give any proven facts that could replace the given statements from the other side of the argument. Rophie gave a good portion of her essay explaining she was disagreeing with a sociologist, and gave a good background of the sociologist. Although it is good to argue the other side of the

“Single mothers face inexplicable social and religious challenges… due to the cultural stereotype and religious orientation” (Essien). Different religions and culture have their own set of beliefs and standards. However, this provides a reason behind the discrimination towards single parents, specifically, single mothers. “Motherhood is crucial to female identity, and women are perceived as natural reproducers, nurturers, mothers and wives… divorced and abandoned single mothers are sexually, economically and socially vulnerable” (Jordal). Diversion is seen as something is not an option for them. Therefore, single mothers are viewed as a disappointment to the society. Which created more opportunity for the discrimination to

The press is definitely not perfect. Who better to let journalists know this than a fellow journalist? Clare Boothe Luce’s introduction of her message to journalists at the Women’s National Press Club utilizes literary devices and techniques such as pronouns, hypophora, anaphora, and antithesis. Luce looks to prepare her audience of female journalists so they respond more positively to her criticism of the American press by giving the reason for her presence and complimenting them. Luce adopts a conversational yet stern tone in order to help incite change in the press.

Did you know that more than one fourth of all children in the United States live with only one parent? Single parenting has become more common today than in the 1800s, when it was sometimes frowned upon. As the years have gone by, it has become easier and easier for women to become single parents. In the 1800’s if husbands died or abandoned their families, women had no choice but to work for extremely low and unfair wages. Today, most men and women are treated equal and receive equal wages making it easier for women to be single parents. This concept is shown in Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through Aunt Polly in the 19th century, single parenting is also common today.

Libertarian Charles Murray proclaims that “the evil of the modern welfare state is not that it bribes women to have babies — wanting to have babies is natural — but that it enables women [that are not married] to bear children without the natural social restraints” (qtd. in Tanner). However, it is clear that Murray oversimplifies the situation since not all single women choose to get pregnant outside of a marriage. In order to understand these types of situations it is important to factor in the death of a spouse, abandonment, and sexual assault. Many single parents raise their children alone because their partner died, they were rejected by their loved ones, or [in the case of women] they were forcefully impregnated without their consent. In these situations the government should view the parents as victims and not irresponsible con artists. Programs that help single parents should be supported because no child deserves to be without a home. Children need stable housing to feel secure, and it is the federal government’s duty to provide security to all its

In 2002, number of children living with their single parent was 16.5 million (Davidson). The most important thing is that each single-parent family is different from the other. Children who live with a widowed mother will definitely be living a different home life from children with divorced parents or the one whose parents were never married. Children of the parents who were divorced will always have some kind of relationship with parents and parents’ partners. But it is obvious that children from single-parent families face tougher times economically as well as

There is much debate on what constitutes as a family today. However, Ball (2002) states, “The concept of the traditional family…is not an immutable one. It is a social construct that varies from culture to culture and, over time, the definition changes within a culture” (pp. 68). There is a growing diversity of families today including the commonality of sole-parenting. In order to explore aspects of sole-parenthood objectively, I need to reflect and put aside my personal experience of growing up in sole-parent household. Furthermore, this essay will explore the historical origins, cultural aspects discussing the influences and implications of gender identity, and social structures of sole-parent families, as well as consider the

Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing are now epidemic in American society. Both forms of disrupted families are harmful to children and to society. The children of single parents are more likely to do poorly in school, commit crimes, and become single parents themselves. In addition, the increase in single-parent families contributes to such social problems as poverty, crime, and a decline in the quality of public education.

Summary: Singles mother hurt themselves and children by trying to show society that they are strong and that they can survive by their own. This source show us how kids can be affected in a bad way because of their mother status. When those women decide to bring to the family a new integrant, kids get hurt with their emotional and in their academy life as shown in this quote “ The more “transitions” experienced by a child — the arrival of a stepparent, a parental boyfriend or girlfriend, or a step- or half sibling — the more children are likely to have either emotional or academic problems, or both.” (Hymowitz, 2014)

Single parent households are a sensitive topic that is highly debated today. This topic is one that has repercussions for both the parents and the children involved. However, regardless of the different consequences, these households continue to grow in the coming years. “In 1970, traditional two-parent married households dominated, making up 81 % of all households in the United States (US). By 2012 this number dropped to around 66 % … In 2012, approximately 21 million children, or 28 % of all children in the US, lived with one parent” (Kramer, 2015). It is interesting to look at the way the single parent households continue to grow throughout the years, all while being a hot topic for discussion on its consequences. When thinking about a book to read for this course, there was no real choice. I stumbled upon this book and knew right away that I could benefit from this book, as well as connect to it on a deeper level and relate to it personally.

Married couples make up 68% of all families with children under 18, compared to 93% in 1950 (US 2015 Census). This demonstrates that more and more children are living in households with single parents. Single parents have to deal with jobs and other sources of stress making it difficult to give their children the attention they need. Additionally, single parents are the only ones that are providing for the family so they have a lot on their plate. This can provide stress on the child because they can feel unloved or even hated. As the rate of single parents go up, so does the amount of children that are not receiving enough