A Rhetorical Analysis Of Sarah Aoun's The Huffington Post

Gender divides nearly everything, from colors to toys. The simple mention of the color pink conjures images of numerous ideas and stereotypes associated with girls, while blue creates the same for boys. In her article for The Huffington Post, Sarah Aoun discusses the extension of this division into the sector of technology in higher education and beyond. The opening of her article works to establish the presence of a pronounced lack of women in the tech field, Aoun then takes the reader through what she feels are the most important issues at hand regarding the gender gap: the misinformation she claims companies provide about diversity, and proposals for the destruction of this bias. She successfully establishes strong rhetorical appeals when arguing that the gender gap exists, yet when refuting counter claims and offering solutions the lack of credibility and evidence to support her points weaken her overall argument. Within the past few years, new and more advanced forms of technology has found a place in nearly every aspect of modern society. This technological boom revolutionized everything from business to entertainment, and even communication. This growth sparked a newfound interest in the study of technology. Schools and parents alike push for students to find a passion within STEM, and companies have a high demand for employees with a background in technology or science. However, if such a bias against women in these fields exist, young prospective female employees in this field need to know and consider whether that is something they are willing to face and overcome. The author works to present information she knows about the bias present in the tech field, which enables the reader to make an informed decision. Aoun brings the reader with her as she opens her article with a personal account of a conversation she shared with her friend. …show more content…
This personal experience establishes a sense of credibility for the author; she worked in the field and saw firsthand the bias her article is about. Without this, the reader could very easily question the authority of the author, as information about her background is not presented or easily found. In addition, calling the idea of tech environments where women were a majority was "far-removed" and calling these spaces "rare" in the real world evokes a negative emotion in the reader and gives the impression that unfair treatment towards women in this field is normalized. The tone of this section also brings forth feelings of hopefulness and the idea that this inclusion of women that the author calls for is a lofty ideal that everyone should strive to achieve. Though the appeals to pathos exhibited in the first section of the article rely on the assumption that the reader already acknowledges the existence of this bias …show more content…
Aoun makes a lot of assumptions regarding the presence of sexism and bias among boys and girls from early childhood, yet the logos and ethos of this argument is weak. Without any external sources to support her claim or any statement of authority on this subject, she leaves the reader only able to base the validity of her claims on their own personal opinion and the merit of the rest of the article. In effect, this portion of the argument only successfully adds to the author 's argument if the reader already agrees with the statements she