Sample Argumentative Essay On Analytical Argumentative Paper

Mary Wollstonecraft was an English philosopher, writer, and most importantly a women’s rights activists, who lived in the late 18th century. She is known for her book, A Vindication of the rights of Women, which was published in the year 1972. Through this book, Mary Wollstonecraft discusses the gender issues as at the time. By this time, the society was a male chauvinistic one, and women did not have much authority in the society. In her book, she argues that women and men are by their very nature equal, but it is only the lack of education that made them (women) appear to be inferior to men. Through this statement, Mary Wollstonecraft brings out the gender discrimination issue in the 18th-century generation. In fact, she wishes for a society that was premised on reason as the social order of the day. So this brings us to the question, is gender discrimination a construct of the society or is it a consequence of our anatomy and physiological appearances? It is important to note that both men and women try to identify themselves by their sex category; hence, a man will always dress in a particular way so that he is considered a man. One would, therefore, state that gender identity is as a result of an Individual’s display to the society and not a society’s construct.
The society we live in today has been embroiled in the gender debate for centuries. Everyone seems to be of the opinion that the gender aspect that has created and specified gender roles is as a result of the influence of the society on an individual. That the society forces your identity to be a man or a woman depending on what they see in you. However, it is important to critically analyze the context in which gender issues have ultimately led to the society accepting the gender display that individuals first express to the world, and the world embraces it wholly. In their advocacy for women’s rights, feminist groups have argued that to achieve gender equity, women have to be treated in a given way, that instead of letting them compete their male counterparts on a level ground, they need some special considerations which will elevate them to the level of a man. One would, therefore, ask the question, why would someone claim to be of the same height as me yet when we stand to measure our heights, she insists on standing on a stool?
Looking at this question critically, the perception that someone creates by always being given advantage, either by the society of by individuals, works to their own disadvantage. The efforts of feminists to push the gender agenda forward has been marred by a lot of difficulties that sometimes we think are beyond human control. However, the truth is that these difficulties are as a result of the elements of the feminists movements themselves. In order to realize gender balance between men and women, it would be utterly wrong to try create a balance by artificially filling a gap that exist, or is perceived to exist. It is therefore wrong for example to preserve some political seat for women in a political system. This act of preserving seats displays a disadvantaged party that must be assisted to be at the same position as the rest. However, that does not mean therefore that the disadvantaged will always be considered as equal to the rest and this is the main problem that has hindered the achievement of equal rights for men and women.
A typical example to illustrate this rather elusive point is to consider a shopkeeper who does not have facial hair, he or she has a lose top so that you can barely see her/his chest, by his/her voice, it’s also not easy to distinguish if it from a man’s or a woman’s and ultimately looking at his or her lower, he or she is wearing a gown. If one or two people are asked to categorize this person’s gender, it is possible that different answer may come from the respondents. This example shows what gender really is. Looking at this scenario, I’m obviously right to say that I do not know and therefore cannot define and categorize this shopkeeper into any of the gender categories. However by displaying some characteristics, I may be able to tell what gender category I would place the shop keeper. For example, if this shopkeeper started growing some facial hair, I would start thinking of calling “him” a man or alternatively, if the shopkeeper would report to the work place the next morning with a suit and long tie, I would obviously consider “him” a man thereby defining his gender. But mark you this is just as a result of display from the shopkeeper. Simply put, sometimes it is easy to define gender by simply observing what someone displays.
In our daily lives, it is important also to observe that in a bid to fight gender discrimination, we perpetrate it by what we display. In the work places, we may have men and women who are at the same level; they could be earning the same or the lady even higher. However, it is more likely that when the lady make an excuse that she needs to go and take care of her family in the evening hours hence should be excused from her job, she will most often than not, be excused. The same case from a man would be considered unusual, sometimes so unusual that the man doesn’t feel free to ask. On the other side, a male physician will be harshly criticized for a mistake he does, a female physician will, however, receive some excuse because she is a “female physician.” It important to note that getting away with the mistake does not earn the female physician anything significant. To put to rest the gender debate by solving the gender discrimination issue, it is important to appreciate that mere help to beat someone does not mean you can beat them, rather, you will always need that help to beat them. As opposed to what Wollstonecraft thought that it’s the lack of education that made women look inferior to men, the someone’s ”lack of education” variable has been resolved but the gender concerns that were raised during her time have just metamorphosed and become more complicated but the inherent problems with these gender issues have remained today. Men stand at an advantaged position when it comes to this gender debate because they have not been given any advantage to compete, so even if they are incompetent than women, but women are given a little help. The men will always be viewed as superior. Another scenario that shows the inertia that exists when it comes to gender issues is the role women have assigned themselves when it comes to taking care of the family. She will always feel that she is the right person to take care of the baby. This is called gate keeping in gender, and it has come out very clearly that putting men and women in the same position economically does not help resolve the gender problem.
If there was a way that we could be like “the shopkeeper” when it comes to making displays about our gender, then gender discrimination and categorization would be a thing of the past today. Going forward, a shift in debate from the gender issue is unavoidable. Being raised to equal another doesn’t amount to being equal to them, in essence, it only means being lesser than them. Generally, men and women are the same. However, the display put forth by women and men for women works against women. Therefore by being assisted to be great by men themselves, women should start questioning the intent behind such acts by men. Are such acts meant to display women as weak? Are such acts really solving the fundamental questions about gender? I’m therefore convinced that gender is merely as a result of the display we put before others to read. The problem, however, is that they read it pretty well and categorize us as they see, not as we really are.