Rhetorical Analysis Essay: Gender & American Identity Term Paper

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Rhetoric Analysis Essay: Gender & American Identity
Introduction
Recently, many intricate controversies in the American culture wars revolve around sex and gender issues. For instance, Americans tend to disagree whether one should limit marriage to a male and a female, who can use which bathrooms or washrooms and whether they should assume that taking care of children is primarily mothers’ responsibility. A Nature Research’s editorial, written in 2018, is an ideal example of a text that argues the current gender perceptions in American society. It is about a draft memo of a US proposal that intends to narrow the definition of gender. Hence, the HHS department proposes establishing a legal definition of sex by basing it solely on genital immutability. Therefore, the editorial rejects and criticizes classifying people as either men or women based on anatomy or genetics (Nature). The main argument for the proposals is that it will play a significant role in resolving physical appearance ambiguity. However, the author believes that the idea is terrible because it has no foundation in science and is likely to undermine the efforts to minimize gender bias, especially against trans individuals and people who do not belong to the binary groups.
Rhetorical Appraisals
Ethos. The author opposes the proposal of defining gender based solely on anatomy and genetics. One of the leading reasons is that it would undermine addressing discrimination, a prevalent social concern in the United States. Again, the author believes that implementing the proposal would undo the decades of progress on understanding the gender concept. This classification goes beyond biological differences, i.e., anatomy and genetics, by incorporating the physical and internal bodily traits and social constructs rooted in individual behavior, societal norms, and culture (Nature). Although gender bias continues to persist in various forms, the phenomenon has been diminishing gradually in the US throughout history. Today, transgender people’s rights have evolved across states, and society is slowly integrating and accepting these individuals as any other humans who require protection from any prejudice. According to the text, the movie makes it easy for schooling institutions to discriminate against individuals based on their sexual identity. The author also states that the proposal is not as straightforward as the request claims. It does not consider the people with hormonal conditions, anatomical antiquities, sexual development disorders, and other abnormalities that make it difficult to classify one’s genitalia as male or female (Nature). Generally, the editorial suggests that the proposal is a backward move in solving the general gender identity issues and will cause more harm to the marginalized groups.
Pathos. The articles evolve unique emotional reaction to the target audience. It exhibits a significant concern for transgender people and individuals who do not belong to any binary category. Transgender is a broad term that refers to people whose character is distinct from the sex given at birth. While some may take hormones or undertake a corrective surgery to fit their p...