Why women aren't welcome on the internet

Assignment 2

Parker Wallace

            To start, the beginning of this article was so vulgar it was nearly unreadable. Having said that, it acted as an extremely effective attention grabber. Starting articles can prove difficult sometimes because if the author isn’t successful most readers will stop reading before the end of the first page. However, Amanda Hess grabs the reader and entices them and draws them in to read the rest of the article. Amanda also uses this heinous first page to appeal to the readers’ emotions. She does this by using fear and by telling a personal story. She makes herself seem personable by telling us her job, and what her normal day is. Amanda also builds her story’s credibility by referencing a study by the Pew research center (368). She continues to tell personal horror stories and mentions Winston Churchill to add to her credibility.

            While this article does portray the dangers of being a female journalist on social media, it does not depict the social media struggles of the opposing sex. This sort of sexism is widely accepted because of how well the author depicts her issues. Most readers would feel bad for her and have sympathy towards her. Even though I am sympathetic, it is also scares me that nobody mentions the slashing men take online. Now I’m sure once you read that, you think I am some raging misogynist but I am just looking for equality in all aspects. Hess also seems to put down men when she mentions them. She does this indirectly by portraying them as having no heart and not caring about the struggles and threats she faces.

            I found the title of this article to be confusing and ironic. At first, I anticipated the article to be about a woman causing havoc or making scenes for no reason. As I read on, I realized that this was not the case, and instead the title was used for tactical irony. After finishing the article, I read the title in more of a sarcastic tone, and it made sense. In conclusion, I think this was a well written article that was emotionally appealing, but was a bit sexist.