Jordann Davis
Ms. Northerns
English 1113
28 September 2017
Draft 3
Paycheck fairness is an often-debated subject among the working class. Many people believe that women are paid lower because of society's bias; however, in "Facts and Fallacies About Paycheck Fairness," Phyllis Schlafly argues that there is no real pay gap between male and female workers. In her article, Schlafly states that women's lower pay is caused by personal preferences and choices. The author's attempt to convince the audience that there is no real problem of a pay gap is ineffective because of her unwarranted logical appeals, lack of credibility, and excessive use of pathos.
Schlafly's article is an ineffective argument through her use of reasons and evidence supporting …show more content…
The first fallacy is, found in the very first sentence of paragraph one, "President Barack Obama and his feminist friends." This sentence represents an ad hominem fallacy. This type of name-calling used is irrelevant to the subject at hand: paycheck fairness. From this very first point, the argument becomes based on personal opinion. A sweeping generalization is another fallacy at work in this article. For instance, paragraph four states that women, "spend fewer years as full-time workers outside the home, avoid jobs that require overtime, and choose jobs with flexibility to take time off for personal reasons." All it takes to discredit this information is one woman who does all of those things listed above that Schlafly argues they do not. Paragraph 15 presents both a post hoc and non-sequitur fallacy, "Fifty years ago, about 80 percent of Americans were married by age 30; today, less than 50 percent are." This sentence misleads the reader by blaming the fall of marriages on the increase in equal pay between male and female workers. In reality, though, the two are unrelated. This information is irrelevant to the argument because it is confusing and does not relate back to the original claim of the article. With this, very little logos, if any, is found throughout the …show more content…
Schlafly gives many examples and information on why women receive less money, but she does not give sources on where she got this information. In this case, she promotes the idea that the information comes from her own ideas on the subject. For example, paragraph three reports that, "In 2012, men suffered a 92 percent of work-related deaths." Where did she find this statistic? This quote is also not needed for the argument's claim. Additionally, the author does not try to establish common ground with the readers. By not doing so she is saying it is her way or the highway. She states that the only cause of lower pay for women is their preferences and their choices, not providing room for any other reasons. On another note, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, mentioned in the second paragraph, is a credible source, but the author only mentions them once and doesn't further explain how the bureau came to the result that, "men are twice as likely as women to work more than 40 hours a week." There could be numbers of factors that led to this statistic other than what Schlafly
Ms. Northerns
English 1113
28 September 2017
Draft 3
Paycheck fairness is an often-debated subject among the working class. Many people believe that women are paid lower because of society's bias; however, in "Facts and Fallacies About Paycheck Fairness," Phyllis Schlafly argues that there is no real pay gap between male and female workers. In her article, Schlafly states that women's lower pay is caused by personal preferences and choices. The author's attempt to convince the audience that there is no real problem of a pay gap is ineffective because of her unwarranted logical appeals, lack of credibility, and excessive use of pathos.
Schlafly's article is an ineffective argument through her use of reasons and evidence supporting …show more content…
The first fallacy is, found in the very first sentence of paragraph one, "President Barack Obama and his feminist friends." This sentence represents an ad hominem fallacy. This type of name-calling used is irrelevant to the subject at hand: paycheck fairness. From this very first point, the argument becomes based on personal opinion. A sweeping generalization is another fallacy at work in this article. For instance, paragraph four states that women, "spend fewer years as full-time workers outside the home, avoid jobs that require overtime, and choose jobs with flexibility to take time off for personal reasons." All it takes to discredit this information is one woman who does all of those things listed above that Schlafly argues they do not. Paragraph 15 presents both a post hoc and non-sequitur fallacy, "Fifty years ago, about 80 percent of Americans were married by age 30; today, less than 50 percent are." This sentence misleads the reader by blaming the fall of marriages on the increase in equal pay between male and female workers. In reality, though, the two are unrelated. This information is irrelevant to the argument because it is confusing and does not relate back to the original claim of the article. With this, very little logos, if any, is found throughout the …show more content…
Schlafly gives many examples and information on why women receive less money, but she does not give sources on where she got this information. In this case, she promotes the idea that the information comes from her own ideas on the subject. For example, paragraph three reports that, "In 2012, men suffered a 92 percent of work-related deaths." Where did she find this statistic? This quote is also not needed for the argument's claim. Additionally, the author does not try to establish common ground with the readers. By not doing so she is saying it is her way or the highway. She states that the only cause of lower pay for women is their preferences and their choices, not providing room for any other reasons. On another note, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, mentioned in the second paragraph, is a credible source, but the author only mentions them once and doesn't further explain how the bureau came to the result that, "men are twice as likely as women to work more than 40 hours a week." There could be numbers of factors that led to this statistic other than what Schlafly